


Once Upon a December

by EnderSquid



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Adventure, Alexis | Quackity Angst, Alternative Universe - Kingdom, Aquaphobia, Blood, Blood and Injury, Bodily Fluids, Enderman Hybrid Ranboo (Video Blogging RPF), Eret Angst (Video Blogging RPF), Floris | Fundy Angst, Fox Hybrid Floris | Fundy, Hybrid Toby Smith | Tubbo, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Torture, Jschlatt Angst (Video Blogging RPF), Kidnapping, Memory Loss, Niki and Eret are Siblings, Niki | Nihachu Needs a Hug, OOC, Parent Jschlatt (Video Blogging RPF), Phil Watson Angst (Video Blogging RPF), Ranboo Angst (Video Blogging RPF), Toby Smith | Tubbo Angst, TommyInnit Angst (Video Blogging RPF), Villain Clay | Dream (Video Blogging RPF), Wilbur Soot Angst, Wilbur Soot and Technoblade and TommyInnit are Siblings, Wilbur Soot is Floris | Fundy's Parent, Winged TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), puss - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 1950-01-01
Updated: 2021-02-20
Packaged: 2021-03-12 12:28:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 25,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28760304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EnderSquid/pseuds/EnderSquid
Summary: Long ago, five children left home, never to be seen again.The children were taken far away, changed and grew older, no memory of their lives before.But when one friend shows bad symptoms from a curse, the five set out to find a cure, and find out things about themselves that they didn’t know.Ranboo, Niki, Tubbo, Tommy, And Fundy will find great and terrible things.
Relationships: Alexis | Quackity/Karl Jacobs/Sapnap, Cara | CaptainPuffy & Niki | Nihachu, Cara | CaptainPuffy & Ranboo, Floris | Fundy & Niki | Nihachu, Floris | Fundy & Ranboo, Floris | Fundy & TommyInnit, Niki | Nihachu & Ranboo, Ranboo & Toby Smith | Tubbo, Ranboo & TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Sam | Awesamdude & Toby Smith | Tubbo, Sam | Awesamdude & TommyInnit, Toby Smith | Tubbo & TommyInnit & Phil Watson
Comments: 50
Kudos: 409





	1. Prologue

The first was eighteen years ago, when princess Nihachu had went missing from her room overnight, no trace left behind of who could’ve possible taken the young girl, only a doll left in her bed and the window opened wide with a cold draft freezing the tears of the kingdom.

Then two in the span of a week, fifteen years ago. First was prince Robin, Who was taken from the royal garden, the only thing left was the three dead bodies of his guards and a trampled garden.  
Not even a week later, Prince Theseus was taken from his bed in the middle of the night on his first birthday. His cries broke through the castle, but his father and brothers just weren’t fast enough, only finding remaining red feathers and hearing the distant crying of their youngest.

The third was a young stable boy named Ranboo, just eleven years ago, he was taken from the stables, his screams breaking through the night. The king himself ran to see if the boy was alright, but he was gone, a boy that the grieving father had declared as a son and others had declared a brother, was gone.

The last was from the same family as Prince Theseus, a prince without a name, taken the day of his birth, the same day that the three others besides Theseus were taken. A curse had been placed to make him age rapidly, and he was taken, leaving a mourning family with two holes in their hearts.  
That was nine years ago.

There had been no signs of where the children went, and search parties had been sent by the grieving families, only a paper with a smiley face being found with a golden feather pinned to a tree by an arrow.  
The families mourned their losses, a family with a friend, a son, and a newborn lost, a sibling with their sister missing, and a father who had lost everything that was worth something to him.

The day of the disappearances became a day of mourning, lanterns were sent into the night sky to urge the children home, baked sweets handed out for lower prices, in the name of princess Nihachu, who loved baking.  
The lost prince would have fox coloured banners thrown around.  
Robin had bees in his name, bee decor hung around to honour him.  
In name of Ranboo, papers filled with memories, as the boy had short term memory loss.  
Then for Theseus, winged hybrids flew above and rained coloured paper down onto the kingdom.

Music played on their birthdays, little festivals to draw the children home were held.

But they never came.

At the same time of the disappearances, a child showed up at an orphanage.

Niki arrived the day of Princesses Nihachu’s kidnapping, and she was brought in by the orphanage owner.

Then Tubbo arrived, just a few days before Tommy, both boys becoming attached at the hip.

Ranboo knocked on their door, holding a bleeding head with no memory of who he was besides his name.

And then a toddler arrived on the day of the lost princes birth, and he was named Fundy.

The five were known to cause trouble, mainly Tommy and Tubbo, making messes and trying to fix them, resulting in larger messes that couldn’t be fixed by any merchant.  
But then there were the days that they couldn’t do anything, Fundy would get a giant growthspurt and you’d hear his bones crack as they tried to fit his growing body. You’d hear Tommy and Tubbo’s screams of pain as bumps formed on their backs or heads. Niki would stare out into any kind of water she could find, always pointing out towards an unknown source. And then Ranboo, who would rapidly teleport and cry, leaving red and green tears wherever they went.

But Tommy would always wake up in a pile of blood and feathers, Tubbo would have small bleeding holes at two points on his head, Niki would weep at the docks to an unknown person, Ranboo would cry into anyone’s arms, and Fundy would pass out from the pain of growing too fast.

“Tubbo...” Tommy rubbed his eyes as he looked at his friend at the bed across from him, a candle lit and a quill in hand, writing out something in his faded and old journal, the sound of wrinkling and scribbling filling the empty room, but keeping the other three asleep.  
Tubbo looked up at Tommy and smiled, “good morning Tommy.” Tubbo’s voice was low as to not wake the other three orphans and their ‘parents’.

Sighing, Tommy threw his sheets off himself and wandered over to Tubbo’s bed, making sure to not step on the creaky floorboards as to not wake Helga and Jimmy below them.  
Tubbo moved aside as Tommy leaned over and looked at his book, seeing what he was writing down. Tommy raised an eyebrow and chuckled lightly, “Tubbo...”Tommy kept his voice low, “why are you writing about a bee eating a pie.” Tubbo laughed silently as Tommy covered his mouth to stop himself from laughing aloud.

Footsteps sounded and the two boys stopped, watching Niki as she rose from her bed and wandered to the window, “You two should be more quiet.” Niki threw open the blinds to reveal a brightening sky in the distance.  
“Today’s the festival of music.” Tubbo places his book and quill next to his bed and slipped onto the cold floorboards, the voices of the orphanage parents just becoming clear in his ears, along with the smell of cooking pastries.

Fundy sniffled and rolled away from the window, but quickly rolled to far and fell onto the floor, startling himself and Ranboo awake as he hit the ground, the sheets falling to the ground with him. Ranboo stretched and yawned, climbing out of bed and moving to avoid a groaning Fundy on the ground.

Fundy had another growth-spurt just days before, growing to who knows what age and to whatever height he was at now, but he was definitely too old to be in an orphanage by now, but technically so was Niki.  
They stayed cause Helga was nice enough to let them stay, since she knew they wouldn’t find a home otherwise.

Helga was an odd one.

Tommy stretched and rubbed his back, feeling the small bit of pain he usually had in his back weeks or days before he’d wake in a puddle of blood with grey feathers surrounding him, Tubbo rubbed his head, feeling the same pain that he usually did.

Niki looked out into the docks, watching small boats start to cross the large body of water in order to reach the Antarctic empire, L’manburg, and the kingdom of King Eret, seeing small children running with small lanterns they had made for the night.  
They never had travelled, as Jimmy had to stay and manage the town, but Niki was fine with that, this was her home.

Niki swung open the glass panes of the window, hearing birds singing a song as the ocean smell and breeze hit her, the sound of townsfolk filling the morning sounds, along with the ever faded sound of music from across the water.

Fundy pulled himself up and rubbed his head, wincing off the pain of his past growth-spurt, feeling his new bones under his skin and the muscle that had just adapted to it. Fundy watched as Tommy and Tubbo left the room for breakfast, Ranboo close behind them.

“How are you feeling today?” Niki grabbed her cloak from her bedside, wrapping it around her shoulders as she tied back her hair.  
Fundy blinked and thought for a second, “less painful than yesterday is a valid answer right?” Niki smiled and nodded, leaving Fundy alone in the room and closing the door behind her as she left.

Tubbo passed Tommy the fresh butter as Tommy rapidly talked to Helga and Jimmy about his plans for the day, all involving listening to the faded music that was always to distant to make out. Helga smiled and nodded along, despite her usually dirty act, she was quite a nice woman when she was behind closed doors, she just liked playing with people.

Ranboo sat in a window with some bread and nibbled on it, looking at the cows and pigs in the farm outside, seeing a small calf running around his mother, smiling as the calf seemed to enjoy its life with its mother.  
Niki came down the creaky stairs and smiled at Jimmy as he nodded at her.  
“Thank you for the cloak Jimmy.” Niki sat down at the wooden table and jimmy waved his hand, “Miles and Cornelius made it for you.” Niki nodded, it did seem like the cloaks that Cornelius often wore around the town, flowing in whatever wind there was.

Fundy tumbled down the stairs a few minutes after Niki came down, grumbling as he rubbed his head again, listening as everyone else laughed at him, Tommy slamming his hand down onto the table as he laughed at someone else’s misfortune.

Jimmy smiled as all five of the orphans gathered in the dining area, “Children, I have news!” All eyes were on Jimmy as he cleared his old throat, “As today, it is four of your birthdays, I’m letting you go out on your own.” Ranboo, Fundy, Niki, and Tubbo had all been given the birthdays as when they arrived, along with Tommy, who’s birthday was only four days later.

The room remained silent as the news settled down like fog onto the five orphans, the smell of fresh fog becoming the words in their brains as they all reacted. Tommy shouted and hopped up, pulling Tubbo up with him as they both laughed, Tommy loud and extravagant, while Tubbo was soft and excited. Ranboo teleported from his spot in the window to the cow pen then back, smiling at the news of a chance to leave the town. Fundy pumped his fists in the air and made a toothy grin, already thinking about following the music. Niki silently cheered and shook her hands in delight as Jimmy and Helga smiled.

“You can take our boat if you want to leave, and since you are all almost adults, we won’t mind if you decided to leave.” Jimmy spread some butter on his bread, smiling as each orphan happily talked about new plans for that day.

|

The morning went by relatively quickly after that, all five packing a bag for a couple of days and saying their goodbyes to the people of the villages, Niki specifically going to Cornelius and Miles to thank them for her new cloak that they had made for her.

The mountains on the sides of the village protected the docks that stood out in the bright blue waters, fish jumping around in the water, making smaller waves along the current that pulled at the kelp in the water, waving it around like a greeting for all the boats that spread out in the water as travellers began the half a day journey to the mainland.

The wind blew into the village and blew through Tubbo’s Hair as he looked out at the water, blue eyes glowing as the sunlight began to hit them. Tubbo could hear the early hum of the spring bees buzzing with activity to start the day and the hive.  
Tommy stood next to him, smiling widely at the water, seeing dolphins way off in the distance, playing with each other and having the time of their lives.  
Niki and Fundy readied the boat, untying the ropes and readying the oars for a safe departure into the water, stashing away food and potions, along with three bags of coins if they needed them for the mainland.  
Ranboo was off purchasing extra water breathing potions, and any potion that could help him in the water, just so his enderman half would be okay.

The town was silent yet so loud, the music from the mainland being one of the only things the five could hear, the wind, fish, water, and voices all being drowned out by the always too quiet music.

Helga and Jimmy helped with setting up the sails of the boat, waving off the five as they tried and failed to set up the sail to the boat.

Now the five sat in the boat, rocking and turning with the bays waves, Helga and Jimmy standing on the dock.  
“I hope it’s no problem, but we have a grandson and a friend in the mainland, can you give them these, their names are Quackity and Karl.” Helga handed Ranboo a satchel that jingled with the sounds of whatever could be inside.  
“How?” Ranboo looked up at Helga and Jimmy smiled, handing him drawings of two men, one looking almost exactly like Helga just make and younger, while the other seemed very different.

“Now go, we can’t keep you waiting.” Jimmy waved off the orphans as the boat began to drift away, Niki setting the sails for the mainland.  
All five turned around and waved as Helga and Jimmy became smaller dots in the distance, along with the town they had spent so long in, finally falling behind them as they went ahead.

Fundy looked down into the water as a squid swam past, a drowned far below it, interacting with a coral reef.  
“Hey guys?” Fundy looked to the other four people in the boat. Everyone turned to him, “do you think we could try and find a cure for my rapid aging?”  
“Of course Fundy.” Niki responded immediately, dipping her hand into the calm water as they moved along, “we will try at least.”  
Everyone else in the boat nodded and agreed before going back to their thing.

|

Porcelain eyes watched the small sailboat run away from their hold, a etched smile blocking a snarl as a man watched from the top of one of the many mountains, seeing prey run away as a predator was always frustrating.  
But now, he’d have another game on his shoulders.


	2. Chapter 1

A half a day of traveling can seem like an eternity when you really want to get somewhere.  
But it was worth it for the music.

Tommy and Tubbo’s eyes glowed as music surrounded their little boat, Fundy and Niki attempting to find a good place to dock along the shores of the Esempee Kingdom, the music following them and dancing around them like the most gracious ballet dancer, soothing their minds with its calming intent and luring them into the festival.

“It’s a bit morbid that they have a festival for kidnapped children.” Ranboo laid at the bottom of the boat, trying his hardest to not get sick as the boat rocked and pulled along, the water below making him shiver as he heard it slosh around.  
Tommy and Tubbo cringed as the thought entered their minds. Having a festival for lost children was definitely a weird thing to do, especially if those children were probably dead.

Niki tapped on Fundy’s shoulder and pointed to an open spot, turning the oars of the boat to get into the perfectly sized lot in the many docks of Esempee, bigger or smaller boats surrounding them, even some familiar boats from the village they had all just came from.

Ranboo quickly crawled out as the boat docked, holding his stomach and squeezing his eyes shut as to not look at the water below him, hearing the rushing of it was enough for the half-enderman.  
Fundy grabbed a rope for the boat and quickly tied it to the dock, allowing Tommy and Tubbo to crawl out before he could crawl from the boat, leaving Niki to hop out last.

Ranboo crawled away from the dock and rubbed his head, trying his best to not look at the water they had travelled over for the past half a day, feeling his stomach act like a knight running into battle.

Fundy looked down at Ranboo as he rubbed his head, pitying the hybrid as he tore through a satchel with various herbs and medicines in it, looking for the medicine Ranboo always had to take after going on a boat. Fundy pulled out the bluish flower and handed it to Ranboo gently, and the hybrid grabbed the flower and began to suck on the petals.  
Instant relief fell over Ranboo as he suckled on the pollen covered petals that always soothes his headaches from the water, feeling a soothing wave crash over him.

Niki grabbed the few satchels they brought and handed Tommy and Tubbo two satchels of herbs and food, keeping the money pouch for herself so that none of the others would impulse buy stuff. Fundy held the medicine bag in his hands as Niki handed Ranboo the satchel Helga had given them for her grandson and friend.

Tommy was nearly vibrating as he listened to the calming music that faded through the walls of the docks, hearing the voices of people inside Esempee, hearing some tears but some laughter.  
A festival of emotions, for the ones that everyone has lost, for any lost soul that wandered out of the land of the living and into deaths arms.  
Tubbo stood next to Tommy, eyes trained on a couple of bees that swarmed around flying flowers, mixing with the bright colours that stood out among the grey of the stone walls and the green grass that was buzzing with other kinds of activity.

Tubbo took a deep breath and smiled, feeling the small pain in his head fade away as he felt the afternoon ocean breeze that could soothe anyone it came in contact with, rushing over his skin and allowing him to feel as if he was in a different world where the crashing of the waves carried him to a comfortable meadow.  
Tommy snapped in Tubbo’s face to get him out of his little trance, raising an eyebrow as Tubbo shook himself like he was waking up, eyes wide for a small second before the pupils returned to normal.

Niki laughed as Tubbo smacked Tommy lightly for waking him up from whatever daydream he had been a part of, Tommy shouting and cussing at Tubbo a bit quieter as to not draw attention to themselves.

Ranboo propped himself up on a pole and finally stood again, feeling his knees shake beneath him as his sickness washed away. The waves splashed onto the dock as Fundy tied the Boat to the dock, tying a knot that he learned while trapping with Miles, trying an extra knot just to make sure the boat didn’t sail away while they were in the festival.

Tommy and Tubbo ran ahead as the five began their journey up the stairs towards the kingdom village, the music drifting into their ears and tying into their brains.  
Niki could smell fresh pastries from bakeries around the music, feeling the warmth from sweet bread and warm cookies.  
Fundy saw multiple coloured banners and decorations that caught his eye, the bright red and oranges seeming like a fire that would wash through a town.  
Tubbo saw bee decorations scattered along the walls of the stairs, along with a couple hand made bee hives in the trees along the path.  
Ranboo looked at the papers they passed and read the memories that were on each paper, learning about people he didn’t even know existed, and who didn’t know he existed.  
Tommy only ever noticed the music that played, along with the hybrids in the air raining down coloured paper.

The stairs were passed by the group and they entered Esempee, people gathered in groups, dressed in clothing of colours and decor, celebrating the death of their family members so they can be remembered in death, celebrating their god for taking care of the dead.  
Or they are dressed in mourning, mourning the children that started this festival, or mourning a lost loved one.

Ranboo moved closer to the centre of the group, moving away from the people he’s never seen before, his long ears lowering and his tail swaying with anxiety as he observed humans and hybrids alike.

Fundy hung back a bit and looked towards a painting of the missing children from the royals, seeing a fox hybrid in the paintings, the only painted image of the lost prince painted from memory.  
That’s what the lost prince was, a memory, nothing known about what he could’ve been.

“Why would you have a festival like this?” Ranboo muttered rubbing his arms as he looked at a painting of the missing stable boy, seeing him made Ranboo shutter at how similar he and the boy looked, but the boy was only an enderman hybrid.  
Ranboo was a half and half hybrid with another unknown mob.

Niki shrugged, “I don’t know Ranboo.” Niki watched as a small child ran past her, laughing as they chased after a butterfly that flew into the wind, bright streamers flowing behind them like the Borealis in winter.  
“I don’t know either, but it’s nice to hear the music.” Tommy smiled brightly as they passed a jukebox playing a disc that had been placed in it, it’s soothing music being the only sound for a second before human voices returned.

Tubbo’s eyes shone as he looked at all the bee decor, eyes passing over the painting of the lost prince Robin as he stared at the bees that were made for the young boy. The buzzing of bees filled his ears as they passed another human made bee hive that bees swarmed around.  
Tubbo only stopped when Fundy grabbed his arm and pulled him back into the group, who had formed a circle for talking to each other.  
“Okay, so we will split for today, then meet up here when dinner gets served.” Niki smiled as the other four nodded along, fastening their satchels.  
“Me and Ranboo will be a group while you three are a group.” Tommy and Tubbo nodded and split form the group, dragging Fundy along with them as they began their journey, Fundys voice fading with them, “guys you are si-“ Fundy’s voice faded away as they disappeared into the crowd, leaving Niki and Ranboo to go their own separate way.

Tommy pulled Tubbo along as Fundy followed behind them both, “C’mon.” Tommy smiled as music surrounded the group, washing a sense of calm and a mother’s lullaby over him, feeling safe and sound.  
Tubbo had reached out his hand and now had bees gathering in his hand, a flower falling into his hands from above as the bees swarmed his hand.  
Fundy felt a painful lurch in his bones as he walked, the bones in his body having a small growth spurt as they walked, but Fundy knew that was all that would happen for a while.

“So, What’s our planned destination?” Tubbo asked, lightly shaking his hand to let the bees escape as he lower it, closing it to regain feeling after all the little bee feet trampled over it.  
Tommy paused for a moment and ousted his lips, “I know Niki’s going to King Eret’s speech,” Tommy hummed as he tried to make new plans for the day.  
“How about we go to the fighting arena.” Tommy suggested, spinning to face the other two.

Tubbo pondered for a moment and nodded, “let’s do it.” Fundy nodded as well, “if I’m not fighting I’m fine with it.”  
The three began their walk towards the coliseum where fights would be held for the entertainment of others, the bloodshed and screams becoming common place around it.  
Or you could just see a really cool fight, depends on the type of person you are.

“Apparently Prince Technoblade is fighting.” Tubbo looked around at the posters that showed the Princes face, a Piglin hybrid that looked like he could tear some poor people in half.  
“Why would the prince fight in the coliseum?” Tommy snorted, crossing his arms and ignoring the posters on the walls that mixed with the reds and yellows, the blue sky raining down light onto every poster.

“Apparently he’s called the blood god,” Tubbo waved his hands, eyes wide as he let that name slip from his tongue, “he’s been through many wars and hasn’t lost one.” Tubbo shivered unintentionally, feeling slight fear of what the fighting ring could hold.

“So they just send fighters to their death then.” Fundy snatched a poster from a wooden wall and red the fine print, reading through the information given.  
Tommy shrugged, “a fights a fight.” And Fundy sighed, “if Niki finds out, she’ll kill us.” Tommy smirked and gave Fund6 a challenging look.

“Then she won’t find out.”

|

The walk to the coliseum was.....longer than expected, but the three boys made it and found spots at the top of the coliseum, seeing past remnants of blood on the sandy and stone floor that covered the coliseum, along with blood splattering the various parkour material set around the fighting area.  
People talked and chattered around them, placing bets on whatever fighter would win the next round.

Tommy, Tubbo, And Fundy placed no bets on anything as they only had a small amount of money that Niki had given them.  
“I believe the Prince will win.” Tommy whispered into Tubbo’s ear, and Tubbo silently agreed, nodding as he looked down into the battle grounds.

The sounds of drums rushed over the Coliseum and all went still, so still you could hear a fox trot, hear the sound of a distant lullaby that faded into the battle torn arena and paused everyone’s thoughts.

A man came into view in a shaded area in the coliseum and raised his hands.  
“Today, you are all hear for a fight, so we grant you a fight.” The sound of the drums sounded again as cages on either side of the coliseum raised, showing the two fighters.

The Prince held a pickaxe and a shield, while his fighter held a axe and shield, Both eyes glinted with a will to fight and survive, hands tightening on their weapons.

“Sadly, it will not be a death fight, but whoever falls first loses.” The man in the shaded area raised his hand, then in a blink of an eye, slammed it down on a drum.  
And the fight started.

The opponent ran at Technoblade with his axe raised, a focused and angry expression graced and etched into his face, but the prince stepped back and raised his shield, letting the axe become lodged in the wood.

He swung his pickaxe at the opponent as he struggled to pull his axe free of the wood.

Tommy and Tubbo watched with stars in their eyes, while Fundy watched with dissatisfaction, seeing the two just exchange blows, barley even a fight, like it was only two men settling a dispute.  
But others in the coliseum seemed much more enthusiastic, cheering and raising their fists for whoever the winner could possibly be.

The sun glared down into the arena as the opponent hopped onto one of the pillars and threw his axe towards the Prince, just missing his leg as the prince charge forward, pickaxe raised as he jumped to reach the opponent on the pillar.  
The opponent hopped quickly to another pillar as the Prince managed to jump onto his last one.

Fundy looked a little closer and saw a smirk that seemed like a smile that a friend would make when fighting with their friend for sparring practice.  
These two were just friends settling something, Fundy could tell by the playful glint in their eyes, though the prince seemed much more serious wth the fight than whoever the opponent was.

Tommy and Tubbo laughed as the prince jumped and tackled the opponent to the ground of the pillar, pinning him down with his pickaxe raised above his head.  
It was brought down to pin the opponent in his position by his shirt.

The stadium cheered as the Prince placed a hoof on his opponents chest.

“We have a winner!” The man cried out, and the stadium cheered while others groaned, having lost the bets they had made on whomever the opponent was.

Tubbo and Tommy seemed kinda disappointed, “I’ve seen cows that fight better than that.” Tubbo whispered, elbowing Tommy in the gut as he laughed.

Fundy rolled his eyes and looked down as the opponent tried to get himself free from the pickaxe as the prince left him and the stadium.  
‘Niki’s probably having great fun if this was a fight’


	3. Chapter 2

Niki and Ranboo separated from Fundy, Tommy, and Tubbo, walking hand in hand towards the destination they had both decided on for the day.

People crowded the streets around vendors and stalls, chattering and purchasing items from the salespeople and merchants, carrying bags of goods with them through the festival.

“You’re right about this being morbid,” Niki muttered, avoiding a mourning woman sitting next to a vendor, tears streaming into the cobbled ground.  
“I know, who just has a festival like this.” Ranboo stared at a group of mourners, watching them cry in the memories of someone lost.

Niki nodded along, looking at signs to be directed towards the main plaza where King Eret’s speech about his lost sister would be, watching the ageing wood that desperately needed to be replaced, along with the fading words on it.  
Niki couldn’t help but notice the small handprints of children that were on various signs.

The satchels on their shoulders rustled against their clothing as they pushed past a couple of groups as they neared their destination, hearing their cries and prays for the lost loved ones to be happy in whatever afterlife they believed in, and not be sent to the End.

The end always seemed like a fictional concept to both Niki and Ranboo, even if Ranboo was part enderman, they had all seen plenty of enderman on the surface, who’s to say they weren’t always there.

The other three seemed noticed by the story of a raging dragon that had only ever been defeated by King Philza once, but was reborn and guarded its realm against outsiders. Yea...That was the most believable part of the end.

“Hey, it’s over here.” Ranboo pointed towards a steadily growing group, a stage placed in front of all of them, a podium with a book on it placed atop the stage. Niki nodded and walked with Ranboo to the crowd, pushing through a bit so they could see and hear the king.

People whispered and muttered around the two, whispering rumours about what had happened to Princess Nihachu when she was kidnapped. One said it was a rogue knight, others said it was a phantom, which honestly made little to no sense.

Niki thought the princess was kidnapped for ransom, but killed just to leave a mark, a mark on a kingdom that had been weakened in the process.  
Ranboo beloved the princess went willingly with someone she trusted as a young child, then was taken far away to be raised differently than how she was supposed to be.

But who could ever know, they’d probably only find a child’s bones.

The crowd silenced quickly as a person walked on stage, crown glinting in the afternoon sunlight that beat down on everyone in the group, spreading a basking warmth on a horrible day that was filled with tragedy eighteen years ago. 

King Eret cleared her throat and looked upon the group that had gathered, feeling a sense within themselves that familiarity was in the crowd that day, but it could just be his grief messing with her.

“Hello, my citizens, or citizens of other kingdoms.” Eret smiled as the crowd bowed down to him, a sad smile, but it was a smile on their face nonetheless.  
“As we all know, eighteen years ago today, my little sister went missing.” Soft sounds came from around as he silenced again, the sobs of nearby mourners who had also lost everything they’ve loved.

“Today is a day of mourning within all the kingdoms, for the loss of five children sparked this festival to remember the dead for who they were when they were alive.” Eret felt small tears in their eyes that he quickly swallowed down to keep her composure.  
“And today, I hope we can all remember who we’ve lost as who we remember them to be.” Eret frowned.  
“To this day I still wish that Nihachu was here, but after all these years I fear there is nothing we can do, and if she still is alive, it is her choice to come home, so if she does, we will welcome her back...” Eret flipped open the book and produced a quill from the side of it, quickly writing as they continued talking.  
“If she died, then we will remember her for who she was as just a small child, someone who loved the bakery’s, who loved the flowers in the garden, and who was the only person I’d want to be my sister.” Eret ripped the paper from the book, reading the memory before he raised it into the air.

“May she rest well tonight.” Eret let the paper go, seeing it flail in the wind as it flew away, along with several other papers of memories that people had thrown in the air.

Niki and Ranboo watched the memories pass overhead, they had never experienced a loss of someone’s life, but they watched happily as the papers flew freely, just like the memories of all missing or dead people.  
The people that would be lost forever.

The large group disbanded as Eret shut the book and made an order to the people standing nearby, which were no doubt his helpers.  
They moved the podium down and turned it towards the crowd, the quill and ink still sat beside it.  
The book was labelled ‘The book for everyone’s memories.’

Niki smiled, and Ranboo raised an eyebrow, “someone will steal that.” He muttered, looking to Niki who looked back at him, “I know, but it’s nice while it lasts.’

The sun overhead had moved, already indicating the pass of almost an hour and a half, most of that time taken looking for the speech, but Niki found the speech satisfying either way.  
Ranboo’s ear twitched as they both began to leave the plaza, eyebrow lowering and eyes widening, “somethings wrong.” He murmured, stopping in place, waiting for anything to stop the silence that seemed loud.

A scream rang through the plaza and the streets beyond, the scream of a maiden.

Everyone’s attention was on the scream, and many people got out of the way while others ran to see the problem. Niki and Ranboo ran to see if they could perhaps help, but also because Ranboo’s anxiety had spiked through the roof after the scream, and Niki couldn’t control whether he ran or not.

Niki and Ranboo rushed past colourful banners that once produced warmth now seem like a fire that was seeping into their veins, cutting off their nerves and consuming them.

Ranboo ran faster, breathing heavily as a pit in his stomach opened him up to the open-air that seemed to constrict, the thought of something bad happening plaguing his mind and depriving him of any rational thought.

A small group seemed to be forming around someone, and Niki just caught a bunch of orange fur within the mass.  
“Fundy?” She nearly shouted, dragging Ranboo into the group and past people that seemed shocked or horrified, not helping whatever was happening.

They both paused as they made it to the centre, seeing a pool of puss and blood before they saw Fundy, both Tommy and Tubbo shouting at him to stay awake, shaking the poor fox hybrid as he shook.

“FUNDY!” Niki screamed, kneeling next to her brother and grabbing his hand, Fundy convulsed and buy and curled in on himself.  
Ranboo grabbed Tubbo’s arm and looked him in the eyes, “what happened?” Ranboo felt panic, feeling himself shake as he held Tubbo’s arm.

Tubbo shook as he looked down at Fundy, “we had just left the coliseum when Fundy started spitting up blood and mucus and puss, he collapsed and we had tried to find a herb to help, but we couldn’t, so now somethings happening, Ranboo I’m scared.” Tubbo but his Lil as he looked down at Fundy again, watching Niki shove a cloth under his mouth.

“Did he age at all?” Ranboo questioned, trying to keep calm as more people gathered around, certain saying prayers.  
Tubbo’s eyes filled with fear, “but the symptoms have never been this bad!” 

“What’s going on here?” Most of the group scattered as the voice of the king cut through the crowd, but not stopping the four to stay around their brother.

Eret looked down at them as Fundy convulsed again, before falling limp and breathing heavily, eyes blinking rapidly as he tried to grab a fistful of air to at least regain his composure.

Voices shouted out what they saw happen, but they were quickly silenced, as Eret kneeled next to Niki and Tommy and rubbed a hand against Fundy's back, “what happened to him?”

Niki looked over to ranboo then back at Eret, “he has a curse that ages him rapidly, we think this may be a side effect, your highness.” Eret nodded then turned towards his knights, “bring the boy to the hospital.” The knights nodded and Niki and Tommy stepped back, allowing the knights to pick up their brother and begin carrying him away.

“Tommy, Tubbo, you go with Fundy, I and Niki will go and try to find something for him.” Ranboo watched as the two ran off quickly, stumbling over their feet as they ran towards the knights and Fundy.  
Niki looked back at Ranboo with small tear stains running down her face.

“C’mon Niki, we have to find him something.” Niki nodded and followed Ranboo as he began back towards the coast, eyes glinting with fear for what could happen if they didn’t find something for him.

|

The man unclenched his fist as the stupid fox was carried away and the two younger boys followed after him.

A smirk found itself planted on his face as he watched as the group quickly disbanded and separated, the blood pile left in the streets for anyone to get.

The man jumped from the rooftop into an alley and walked into the street, walking past the blood, but picking up the cloth that the girl had placed under his bleeding mouth. The blood seeped onto his hands, but it was something he needed if he wanted to get this done.

The man in the green cloak hopped onto another roof and began walking over the citizens of a once-great country, a country now plagued in mourning and grief.  
The strongest weapon against people was grief.

They all should’ve known that the kids would never come, he should’ve known they would.

Now all five are in one place.

But with that ageing curse that he always held in his hand, why couldn’t he just age the poor boy to the end of his life.

Cause they were all too fun, way too fun.

“Dream?” The man looked down as someone spoke up to him, eyes glinting behind his mask.

Dream shoved the cloth in his cloak and looked at the speaker, “Hello Karl.”

Karl narrowed his eyes at Dream, crossing his arms with a book in his arms, always the same stupid book that he never seemed to rid himself of.  
“What are you doing on the library roof?” 

Dream through for a second, but quickly answered, a second was nothing, “ I’m just getting a good view, the library’s tall, so you can get a good look at the villages of Esempee.” Kale nodded, seeming satisfied with his answer, mildly, but Dream would take it.

“What were you doing with that bloodied cloth?” Karl slung the book by his side, resting his weight on one leg.

“I injured myself and just needed to stop the bleeding.” Karl nodded again, sighing, “well if you need help, just come inside.”  
“I will.”

Karl re-entered the library, leaving Dream standing on the roof with the bloodied cloth and a hateful feeling settling in his chest.

That book was what caused everything to go wrong.

He looked into the contents and his life was ruined.

All he loved was gone because of Karl and his cursed book.  
That fucking book would burn with the rest of every nation that dream has helped build since his first day in this world.  
By all he knew.

Dream was going to destroy that book and destroy Karl’s vessel.

|

A boat floated along the shores of a beach, a crew aboard all claiming their newest victory, drinking away their worries as their captain played with a sword they had collected on the way.

The captain smiled as she stared down at the glinting diamond embedded into the handle of the sword, staring back at her as she flipped it.

The boat swayed in the wavy water, but the anchor was down and they were close to shore, so nothing bad could happen if it tried.

The captain paused as she heard panicked voices coming down the stairs near the ship, hiding the view from whoever was coming down of the ship.

The captain watched two people appear, and quickly ran onto the deck and watched the two as they steppe day onto the beach.


	4. Chapter 3

Niki and Ranboo walked through the streets of the kingdom, looking through stalls for the right one, the one that held potions, artifacts, herbs, or anything that could help Fundy.

“Niki, I know that you’re worried, but I’m sure King Eret has the right stuff for Fundy.” Ranboo watched as papers flew overhead, mixing with the orange banners that plagued the streets.  
“But we don’t know if this could happen away from help, I just want to be sure, because who’s to say this won’t happen again.” Niki stopped for a second to look into an Empty stall before she continued again.

Ranboo opened his mouth to protest but snapped it shut and nodded, they didn’t know when it could happen again.

Sighing and shaking her head, Niki continued, hearing the chattering of the village people around her, their voices becoming loud as they pushed through the mourning and the happy.  
Then two children ran past.

Niki watched two laughing children scurry past, laughing as they each held wooden swords, smacking each other with the dulled edges of the non-lethal weapon.  
The laughter and the childhood innocence Niki wished she could remember.

Like when they were young, Fundy would just get bone aches, Tommy would only wake with a bit of pain, Tubbo woke with a minor headache, Ranboo would only teleport a couple of feet, and she wouldn’t stare out into the sea, looking for something she couldn’t see.

Now Fundy was sick, Tommy would wake to agonizing pain and a puddle of blood, Tubbo would nearly have holes in his head, and Ranboo would teleport over the mountains into the badlands.  
And she would cry for someone she didn’t know.

Niki snapped out of it as the laughter faded as the children ran off, disappearing behind a house.

Ranboo had stopped a few feet in front of her, watching her as a stand owner sorted through his items.

“Did you find something Ranboo?” Niki sped up and met with Ranboo again, “yea, this guy says he might have an ingredient for a medicine.” Ranboo pointed at the stand owner as he tore through bags of product.

“I may not have any left.” The man stood up and gave the two a sad shake of his head.  
Niki blinked and bit her lip, “we can collect some if there’s anywhere we could find it around here.” 

The stand owner scratched his chin.  
“Well, what you need is some lapis lazuli, I know it seems impractical, but it’s the last ingredient I need.”  
Ranboo raised an eyebrow, “I’ve never heard of a potion that needs lapis.” He muttered, but the stand owner was quick to correct him.  
“It’s not a potion, it’s a medicine, no potion can heal an ageing curse, nothing can besides a reverse spell that’s been lost to time.” Niki’s heart clenched at those words, the thought of Fundy ageing far too rapidly and dying before them all plagued her with fear.

“Then we’ll go find some lapis.” The stand owner nodded, “there’s a cave near the shore on the east side of the castle, there should be lapis there.” The stand owner produced a map, handing it off to Ranboo.  
“Be careful though, there’s a pirate gang around here.” 

Ranboo nodded and grabbed Niki’s hand, leaving the man in the stand behind as another man with a mask replaced their spot, talking to the store owner about something before being handed a small bag of glowing material.

Niki and Ranboo ran past many stands and groups, ignoring the talking and sobbing and laughter, only moving forward in a quest that needed to be completed.

The east was closer than both expected, but it was a welcome surprise, as it brought them close to their destination quickly.

The stairs were decorated with colours of pink and violet, the colours meshed with the stone as Ranboo and Niki ran downwards, not being able to see over the cobblestone walls.

Ranboo quickly took lead, hopping down several stairs at a time, map held tightly in his hand as Niki kept right behind him.

The sand quickly came to view as Ranboo jumped towards it, nearly slipping on the many grains of the sand that ways got everywhere no matter how much you tried to get it off.  
Niki followed suit, but quickly noticed a shadow of a ship just in the distance, a figure standing on it, staring towards them.

Ranboo stopped quickly as he saw the ship, sending a small bit of sand flying towards the pirate ship that stood tall and proud in the water.  
The captain was the figure that Niki had seen, standing on top of the deck, staring out at the two orphans.

“Didn’t the stand owner tell us to avoid those guys?” Ranboo whispered to Niki, taking a step back as the captain shouted something to her crew.

“Should we run?” Niki questioned, also stepping back and looking at the stairs to see if they had the advantage.  
They didn’t, the stairs were too far away.

‘Shit’ Niki thought, looking back at the ship as the captain lowered herself into a small boat and began sailing towards them.  
Only the captain.

Ranboo held the map to his chest as the Captain came to shore.  
Niki saw that the captain was a sheep hybrid, what seemed to be Hair at first now looked fully like wool.

The captain got out of the boat and smiled, eyes studying the two as Ranboo started shaking a small bit.

“What are you doing here?” The captain sounded nothing like what the two thought, sounding almost like an older sister, or a mother who was asking a small child what they were doing in a place they weren’t meant to be.

“We are looking for lapis lazuli,” Niki spoke clearly, pushing Ranboo slightly behind her.

The captain laughed, not sounding threatening at all, “do not worry, I don’t hurt innocent people.” The captain spun around to show she had no weapons on her, no clanging or clinging came from her.  
“And the lapis cave is far from here.” 

The captain started walking towards them, and Ranboo quickly teleported away from behind Niki, leaving her to herself and the captain.  
“I’m Captain Puffy, I Can help you and.....your friend?” Puffy seemed unsure as she looked around for wherever Ranboo had teleported off to.

“He’s my brother, and I don’t believe we need help.” Niki heard the teleporting noise of an enderman, and soon Ranboo was standing next to her again.  
“Well, I believe you do, whatever anyone told you, the Lapis cave is far from shore, on a small island.” Puffy pointed out to sea, past her ship, and out into the great blue of the sea, only specks of islands dotting the edge of what seemed like the world.

Ranboo shivered as his eyes widened, the thought of actually going that far out for the lapis made him feel indescribable fear.  
“And since your brother seems to be part enderman, why don’t I give you both a ride.” Puffy smiled, pointing towards the boat she had come out on.

Niki grabbed Ranboo’s hand and furrowed her brow, “fine, but only because we need it.” Puffy nodded and began towards her boat, motioning the two to follow behind her.

Niki followed as Ranboo hesitated a small bit, but quickly ran to catch up to them, leaving footprints in the sand as he stepped.

Niki crawled into the boat with Puffy as Ranboo hopped to avoid the water and quickly covered his eyes with his hands.

“So what are your names?” Puffy pushed the boat from shore and began rowing towards the islands on the horizon.  
“I’m Niki, and this is Ranboo.” Puffy paused at the name given for Ranboo.

Niki titled her head as Puffy paused for a moment, “is something wrong?” 

Puffy shook her head, “it’s just...Ranboo’s the name of the missing stable boy that King Philza considered a son.”

Niki raise an eyebrow and sighed, they had always been told that how Ranboo looked almost like him as well, but Ranboo was a common name among Endermen hybrids and endermen. 

Niki looked back and saw someone walking along the shore, but quickly turned before the figure could catch her staring.

If she stared for a bit longer, she’d see the figure look towards them and wave, like he was mocking what they were doing.

|

Puffy had switched rowing duty with Niki as her arms grew tired, and now had Ranboo’s head in her lap as he continued to cover his eyes.  
“Is it always this bad?” Puffy asked, patting Ranboo’s hair as he tensed up as a bit of water splashed over the edge of the boat.

“Not usually, I believe he’s just stressed from today’s events.” Niki looked into the water as a school of fish swam past, covering the Coral below them, which hid who knows what, maybe a mermaid or salmon was down there.

Puffy nodded and patted Ranboo’s head again, allowing the boy to become comfortable with the rocking of the small boat in the large ocean.

Niki looked behind her quickly, seeing a mass of land coming up, “land.” They hit the sand quickly, rocking the boat, and Ranboo quickly scrambled out of the boat and onto the sand, backing far from the water.  
Puffy and Niki got off and pulled the boat closer to shore, making sure it didn’t drift away while they were underground.

Niki slung her satchel over her shoulder and quickly looked through the bag to find the flower they always had to give Ranboo after sea trips.

Ranboo walked over to her as she pulled the flower from the bag and took it, shoving it into his mouth to feel the relief that always came after the trips at sea.

Puffy walked ahead, climbing up a hill and motioning the other two to follow her as she climbed, climbing the rocks of the island to the top.

A cave became visible quickly, appearing in the rock of the island, and Puffy grabbed a torch from her coat and lit it quickly, waiting as Ranboo and Niki caught up with her.  
Niki and Ranboo looked into the dark cave and looked at each other.  
‘So Fundy doesn’t die randomly.’  
They both thought it and motioned for Puffy to lead the way.

Puffy began down the cave, the torch lighting a pathway for the trio as they descended into the earth that transformed into another world quickly. The grass of the above vanished and was replaced by a stone that seemed ready to cave in at any moment.  
The torch-lit up several other ores that they weren’t looking for, like gold, Redstone, and iron, but they ignored the ores as they began to look for the dark blue mineral.

“Lapis is known for its healing properties,” Puffy mumbled, kneeling to stick the torch into a small hole to find the mineral.

Soon all-natural light had left, and they were alone with the light of the torch, the sounds of mobs deep in the cave echoing and bouncing into the ears of the trio as they searched. Ranboo dragged his hand along the jagged walls, feeling smooth and rough stone in various places, along with a small waterfall.  
So he could only assume they were probably underwater.  
The thought made him shiver.

Niki held a long stone she had picked up in her hand, ready for any Creeper, Cave Spider, skeleton, or spider they could come across.

Puffy held the torch foreword and saw a dash of blue in the corner of her vision, and quickly turned towards the blue, throwing the light to the blue.  
It was Lapis.

“Here.” Puffy smiled as both pairs of eyes lit up and Niki began quickly pulling at the Lapis, grabbing pieces of the mineral and tossing them in her bag with a smile on her face.

Ranboo also kneeled and grabbed a few bits of Lapis in the ore, smiling at the thought of getting out of the cave that seemed to want to collapse.

Niki grabbed one last piece before she stood up and smiled at puffy, “thank you so much.” Puffy smiled and nodded, her wool bouncing lightly, “no need to thank me, now let’s leave before a creeper makes a hole out of us.”

And so they began their journey back up to the surface, not caring about and a glint in the corner of their vision as natural sunlight soon came back and basked them in the warmth and the colour of the sun.  
Well...the sun was soon set.

The Sky was coloured with pink, violet, peach, red, blue, and black farthest away from the sun.

The world always looked beautiful at sunset.

“We should be getting back.” Ranboo began the descent down to the boat.

|

“So...if I drag this kid under, I’ll get to see my husband again?” A woman questioned dream, floating in the water.

“I’m a man of my word, don’t kill him though.” Dream watched the woman shift her salmon tail nervously, staring out into the water.  
“I’ll even tell you what I did to your son.” The woman’s eyes widened, and she quickly nodded, desperate to learn what happened to her only child.

“Why’d you take them all in the first place?” The woman looked up at him.

“Simple, if your life’s a story,” Dream got closer to the mermaid, “why to care about the other characters when you can have fun.” 

The mermaid swam back a bit, glaring at the man, “Your horrible, we’re not a story.” She shouted, barely moving back thanks to the chain on her tail.

“I’m doing what the story wanted me to do, but worse, this is your role Sally, so act it out.” Dream smiled as Sally flinched back.  
“Now go.” The chains vanished and sally stared longingly, then dove under, her salmon tail glinted as she swam off to a boat that had started rowing back to shore.

“I have something I need to do.”

|

Puffy took her turn to row the boat again, whistling an old song that Niki couldn’t recognize.

Ranboo curled up against the side of the boat, shivering as water managed to hit him where he sat.

Niki smiled and relaxed in her seat, feeling complete now that she had the lapis in her bag, a mineral that could help Fundy the best that it could. Niki thought about how Fundy was doing, wondering if the boy had gotten better at all.  
It wasn’t a thought she usually liked.

Niki placed her hand in the water below her, feeling the soft ripples in the water that always felt like a hand welcoming you to the earth that was always open to being welcoming.

She felt something going against her hand.  
Niki pulled her hand from the water quickly, looking into the water to see if she had touched a fish.

Nothing was there.

Dread settled in Niki’s stomach as Puffy stopped rowing, looking into the water with anxious eyes.  
“Something is under the boat...”

Niki felt her heart stop as the boat rocked, but it wasn’t the comforting rock of the sea.

Ranboo raised his head with wide eyes, feeling the bad shakes underneath the boat.

He was there one second, and then he was gone.

Something burst from the water and grabbed Ranboo, dragging him out of the boat and under the water.

Niki grabbed the side of the boat and looked into the water, seeing Ranboo’s glowing eyes staring back up at her as he thrashed. She could see him trying to teleport away, but he just shook rapidly, never getting anywhere as he was dragged farther and farther underneath.

Puffy joined Niki at the side with wide eyes, staring into the water.

Niki felt herself lose grip on reality for a few seconds before she finally screamed.

“RANBOO!”


	5. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TW/ DEATH, GORE, AND BLOOD

Coughing erupted from Fundy as he finally emptied his lungs after an hour of coughing and hacking, Tubbo and Tommy panicking next to him the entire time.  
Eret has come in multiple times to check in on them and the nurse that was caring for Fundy as he coughed.

“I feel bad,” Tommy muttered, cringing as Fundy took a gasping breath.  
Tubbo nodded, looking down at a small bee that had rested in his hand from the opened window.

“We should go looking for Ranboo and Niki.” Tommy stood from his spot and clutched his hands together. Tubbo raised an eyebrow, but quickly nodded, “they’ve been gone for a while.“

“Then we’ll go,” Tommy smirked with confidence, looking back at Fundy before he left through the opened wooden door, Tubbo following closely behind like a duckling that was following its mother.

“Which way did they walk off into?” Tubbo questioned, looking out the windows of the hospital as they walked, “I think they went towards the woods on the west side of the island.” Tommy felt confident in his answer, being almost certain he saw them running towards the towering trees that almost blocked out the distant mountains that always stood taller.

Tubbo nodded, not questioning anything that was said, going along with whatever his brother had said.

Tommy pushed open the doors of the hospital and walked into the afternoon sunlight, the sun slightly more tilted to the trees, but not yet being covered by them.  
Tubbo pushed out past Tommy and began the tread towards the trees as big as the palace that stood on the edge of the village.

Village people walked past them as they moved, carrying baskets of food or clothing, being dragged along by children, or simply selling their product.  
Tubbo managed to get distracted by a small wooden carving of a bee.

“Big T, we have to keep moving,” Tommy called out, moving back towards Tubbo, who was marvelling at a bee carving.  
“Look at him Tommy, its eyes are big.” Tubbo awed at the bee as the older lady running the stall smiled and laughed softly.  
“It’s only two coins.” Tubbo’s eyes glistened with happiness, and he quickly turned to Tommy.

They had a small bag of money that was used for souvenirs anyways.

So Tubbo walked away with a nice bee carving that day, cooing at it as Tommy punched his arm, “you love bees too many Tubs.” It was no lie, Tubbo had always loved bees since he was just a little kid.  
“You’ve loved music discs too much.” Tubbo snapped back, and Tommy froze for a second.

He hadn’t had music discs in forever.

“I’ll get myself a souvenir as well, maybe one for Fundy as well.” Tubbo nodded as Tommy walked towards a stand that had colourful music discs painted on its side.  
The stand owner was a masked man.  
“Uh...Hello?”

The man turned to look at Tommy, and Tommy saw a smile under his mask, “Hello, I’m Sam, do you need anything?” Sam waved his hands over the various discs in the collection.

“Do you have a Mellohi or a Cat?” Sam titled his head and nodded, “only one of each left, usually first to sell out as they were Prince Theseus’s favourites.” Tommy raised an eyebrow as Sam turned around and grabbed two discs from a nearby empty box and placed them on the standing counter.

“Five coins.” Tommy nodded and handed over the five coins from the bag, taking the discs and muttering thanks to Sam before returning to Tubbo, who was still marvelling at his Bee carving.

“We have no impulse control.” Tubbo shrugged, smiling, his bee held tightly in his hands.  
“Agreed.” Tommy began to walk again, confidence in each step as houses and stand became few and far between, and soon they reached a field, the forest just beyond.

Tubbo heard the noises of civilization behind them but ignored them for the singing of birds in the always moving forest, an immovable object made by Mother Nature to keep her children safe.  
The trees stood tall and large above them as they began to walk through the tall grass of the field.

Rabbits ran past their legs as they walked ahead, stuffing their new belongings in a bag as to not lose the three items.

Foxes yipped as they passed by, backing away from the huge animals that towered over their small forms. Though a small baby fox did follow them for a few feet before its mother called to it. Birds flew overhead to sing a song millions have heard but no one has ever heard, and no one will ever hear again.

The grass rustled against their exposed skin, scratching and rubbing until the skin was to rubbed to be scratched anymore.

But this didn’t stop the two unstoppable forces that were moving towards an immovable object that always stood above everyone, in importance and height.

The air felt fresher near the trees, the earth giving off its air to the fortunate that come near.

“I feel like something bad is going to happen.” Tubbo fell back a bit before he quickly caught up, looking up at the huge trees.  
“  
don't be a pussy Tubbo, besides, Niki and Ranboo could do it.” Tommy nearly shouted towards Tubbo but lowered his voice quickly as to not be heard by passing village people on the other side of the field.

Tubbo and Tommy stood at the edge of the forest and looked to each other, “Whoever is last in is a pussy.” Tommy shouted and began running to the tree-line, closely followed by Tubbo, who shouted obscenities at the taller teenager.

The two forced their way into the thick trees and continued running, their laughter echoing in the endlessness of the forests that always stretched out.  
Raccoons paused as the boys ran past, laughing and shouting obscenities at each other, but having fun nonetheless.  
They were brothers after all.

Sticks crunched under their feet as they forced their weight onto the small trees, the trees that had died maybe only a few minutes ago.  
Tommy jumped over a fallen tree and slid down next to it, trying to catch his breath from laughing and running at the same time.

Tubbo was close behind and slid down next to him.

“You were in last!” Tommy shouted, elbowing Tubbo.  
“No I wasn’t, you were!” Tubbo elbowed Tommy back.

The two stared at each other before falling into fits of laughter again, their laughs echoing through the cave of trees and alerting many creatures surrounding the area of the two boys presences.

Tubbo supported himself on the tree and looked into the forest, “anyways, we have to continue looking for Niki and Ranboo.” Tommy nodded and got up, and they continued their search more silently this time.  
The boys walked for a couple of minutes, the sticks and leaves crunching under their boots as they walked.

Until they saw a light.

Candlelight flickering in the windows of woodland mansion places known for having evil people inside that steal peoples souls and put them into totems that save you from death.

“Tommy!” Tubbo whisper-shouted, pointing towards the three-story-tall mansion that stood out among the dark trees and welcoming embrace of the forest, instead of feeling like a place of danger and concern.

“What if they took Niki and Ranboo!” Tommy began running towards the mansion before Tubbo could stop him.  
Tubbo hesitated before running after him, muttering to himself about how Tommy would get them both killed one day.  
Maybe in another dimension.

Tommy began to break open an already broken window and began trying to climb into the mansion, boosting himself with the rough cobblestone base of the mansion.  
“Boost me up, Tubbs.” Tubbo hesitated again before grabbing Tommy’s boot and quickly boosted him up, and Tommy reached out his hands to pull Tubbo in.

The Mansion was dusty and smelt terrible, almost like many things had died in that very place.

Tommy gagged and covered his nose, while Tubbo scrunched his face and pulled his shirt over his face to block out the smell of what seemed like rot.

Tubbo pushes open the door of the room and paused, eyes wide.  
Tubbo stepped back as Tommy rushed to see what the problem is.

“Tubbo What’s wro...ng....” Tommy stopped mid-sentence and silenced himself, looking out at the horrors that had presented themselves to the two.

Blood was smeared around the floor and walls, an eyeball was deflated and rotting just in forth of the door.

But the worst part was a man that was hung from a chandelier.

His guts were sprawled out all over the lights, making the candlelight seem red as his blood dripped into the floor.  
Maggots crawled in and out of his skin, eating away at what was left of the hanging body that would never leave the memory of Tommy and Tubbo, the deflated eyeball still attached to the skull of the very dead man.

Tubbo gagged and stepped back, hearing the dripping of the blood, Tubbo fell back and closed his eyes, covering his mouth with his hands.

Tommy stood in shock, quickly looking down as to not see that deflated eye or the brains that dropped out of the other eye of the man.

But with all that blood.

That man wasn’t the only one.

Tommy shook as he left the room, shivering as he began to walk down the hall, passing under the dripping corpse, eyes trained on the blood smears on the ground instead of Lady Fates handiwork.

Tommy placed a hand on a door and could hear rats, and felt vomit rise in his stomach at the thought of what he could find.

The door was pushed open, and Tommy nearly screamed as he stepped back, feeling his heart nearly pounding out of his chest as he saw the site on the other side of the door.

A man with a hole cut into his head and stomach, only slivers of organs remaining as blood covered rats carried around what was left on him in their mouths.  
Little bits of skull rested upon the carpet below the carcass, stained with the dried blood of a once-living person, a person that once had a heartbeat.  
Now you could see into his body, play music on his ribs, and if you looked close enough, you could see pieces of intestine and organs resting at the bottom of the hole that the rats had made in the man.

He was lucky to be dead.

A rat stared at Tommy with huge red eyes, a piece of pink brain clutched in its mouth, it stared at him and he stared back, then it scurried away.

Tommy nearly vomited right there, seeing the horrible sight made him want to empty any contents of his stomach that he had.

He slammed the door shut and shivered as he felt Tubbo coming closer.

“D...don’t go in there.” Tommy shook his head and bit his tongue.  
“Wasn’t...planning on it, Big Man.” Tubbo stood next to Tommy, listening to the rats scurry around, feeling his insides lurch at the thought of what was in there.  
“Let’s...get out of here.” Tubbo didn’t argue and nodded, “I don’t want to see that body again.” Tommy agreed silently.  
Who would want to?

Tommy and Tubbo continued walking along the carpet, looking down and not bothering to look up as blood dripped down onto them, staining a part of each of their shirts.

They passed by many rooms, where the sounds of insects and vermin made them feel their stomach contents rise more and more.  
Then they reached a big room with stairs in it.

A door that looked like an exit was in that room.

Tubbo and Tommy bolted to the door and pushed out, falling onto the ground as the contents of each of their stomachs finally lost their hold, they both vomited a small bit, the bile burning their throats and tongues as the images of the bodies just made their stomachs lurch more.

“Now...What’s going on here?” A voice cut through the two teenagers' heavy breathing, and they both looked up, seeing a tall man standing not far away, wearing a mask that covered most of his face.

“Hello?” Tommy called out, standing up as Tubbo cradled his stomach, “so many people have been murdered in there, sir!” Tommy cried out, and the man just titled his head.

“Well of course!” He seemed enthusiastic, but also solemn, seeming serious in whatever he was about to say next, “I was the last thing they saw after all.” Tommy perked up at those words, “what?”

The man chuckled, “I needed some of these.” The man held up a doll, no, a totem.

A totem of undying.

The item so many despised due to the rumours that surrounded its making, including that innocent souls were sacrificed to make them.  
Tommy felt his heart stop for what may have been the eighth times in just the last hour.

“Why?” Tubbo called out, just managing to stand up and rest on Tommy.

The man looked up, and they both could faintly see a smile, “You’ll understand later.”

“For now,” The man pulled a bow and a glowing orange arrow from behind him, “I have to get rid of this.”

The man shot the arrow at the mansion, and flames soon started to spread.

“Why would you do that!” Tommy shouted, more about the horrendous murder than the fire.

“Everyone has a role to play, I’m just playing mine out too well, what’s the point? We’re all a story after all.” The man looked towards the sky like he was seeing something the others couldn’t.

“Anyways,” The man stashed away his bow and arrow, “I have a meeting with a little fishy that will keep the fun going.” The man quickly walked off before either could catch up, Tubbo still supporting himself on Tommy as they watched the man disappear, the fire becoming hot on their back.


	6. Chapter 5

Niki watched as Ranboo was dragged farther and farther under the ocean surface, soon only seeing his eyes as he was dragged down.

Niki began scrambling through her bag, maybe she had some water breathing potions and night vision potions.

Puffy continued watching Ranboo as he sunk further, eyes wide as she saw him struggling so far down.

Niki heard the clink and the slight wavy ness of a water breathing potion, and quickly grabbed it, then another, handing one over to Puffy, “we have to get him.” Niki began rummaging around the bag again as puffy downed the water breathing potion, and hopped into the water, keeping afloat for Niki.

Niki grabbed two-night vision potions and downed hers, then threw one over for Puffy, who drank it up then dove under, chasing after whatever took Ranboo.

Niki followed quickly after, seeing the remnants of Ranboo’s teleporting effect left behind, but no sign he teleported.  
He never could teleport when under the water.

Coral brushed against them and nearly cut them as they reached the ocean floor.

Niki turned to Puffy as Puffy began to look around in the crevasses of the rocks, “we have fifteen minutes before we have to go up again.” Niki felt her voice become muffled in the water, but Niki perked up in understanding and nodded.

Puffy swam into a coral reef while Niki began to explore a kelp forest, swimming through the long tentacle-like vines that would tear ships apart.  
Or bring people down to the bottom of the sea for them to drown.  
The kelp was alive after-all.

Niki pushed past some kelp and swam into a small clearing in the huge kelp forest, seeing nothing but a few rocks and sand, along with kelp that had separated from the ground and now roamed free to grab at anyone but couldn’t pull them to the bottom.

Niki began to swim again, seeing the potion's effects around her as she pushed through the thick kelp and pushed through schools of fish that had become entangled in the kelp.

The fish wouldn’t see the end of a happy day stuck in the kelp.

Niki swam down a bit to get a closer look at the bottom of the ocean floor and saw something glinting in the side of her vision.  
Niki dove down and grabbed at the sparkling object and held it in her hand.

A potion bottle.

A water breathing potion bottle.

That still had some potion in it.

From what Niki knew, water breathing potions dispersed in water after five minutes, so whoever gave it to whoever, it had been recent.

Niki grimaced and began swimming in the direction of a few potion effects that lingered in the water, left behind by whoever took her little brother.  
Well he wasn’t small....at all...but still.

Niki pushed the water around her, but felt a sense of dread in her stomach and stopped, listening for any sign of danger.

And then it grasped at her. A piece of kelp tangled around Niki’s leg and began pulling her down. Kicking her leg, Niki felt panic force its place where dread had been.  
The kelp was dragging her to the bottom of the ocean, and would kelp her there until her potion wore off.

Niki pulled at the kelp and finally managed to free herself, seeing the kelp coming back for more. Niki began kicking as her life depended on it, swimming at full force through the kelp, feeling it trying to grab at her no matter where she turned to escape it.

Niki pushed through the kelp forest and into the open sea, a gigantic underwater cliff just in front of her, going down to who knows what depth. All she knew is that she could hear guardians and drowned down in the dangerous depths of the ocean.

Pushing any fear from her gut, Niki began to dive down into the waters, ignoring the sounds of the mobs that she knew would stop at nothing to stop her from her goal.

Fish soon stopped appearing around Niki as it began to grow darker, but the night vision potion blocked out any darkness that consumed Niki as she looked along the rocky cliffs, seeing drowned climbing in the caves and the cracks, reaching out towards her and groaning, making Niki back away from the rocks.  
Closer to the kelp.

The kelp seemed much angrier now that it had been disturbed in its very large habitat, with who knows what lurking inside ready to turn Niki into lunch.  
Ready to turn Niki into a red spot in the ocean.

Niki continued down, well aware she only had five minutes of air left. She wasn’t one to give up easily, and she wasn’t giving up for the sake of Ranboo’s life.

Moving a small bit closer to the rocks, Niki could see eyes peering back at her, glowing blue eyes that seemed to shine despite the low light. Maybe they were glowing.  
It seemed hypnotic to Niki.

Like she wanted to just relax, and sink.

Sink into nothingness, sink into whatever was beneath her.

Until...

“NIKI!” It was a muffled shouting that caught her attention, seeing small purple particles behind the eyes that seemed to trap her in a mind that wasn’t her own.  
She could see a red and green eye behind those stunning blue eyes.

Those eyes filled with fear once Niki began to swim closer, moving away from Ranboo as Niki moved closer.

“Wait!” An elegant voice spoke, silk seeping into the voice as Niki paused again, feeling her muscles seize up.  
“I just want to find out what happened to my son.” The voice was desperate, a hand reached out towards Niki, and Niki could see webbed hands.

“And why would you need Ranboo for that?” She spat out, Pulling away from her muscles seizing up.

The voice paused, “The man who took him told me to keep him down here, then He’d tell me where he took him.” The woman pulled Ranboo and herself from the cave, and Niki almost immediately recognized her.

It was Princess Sally, or Queen Sally when Pogtopia still existed.

“Your majesty....” Niki felt a bit bad that she questioned royalty, especially one that seemed so deep in grief from the loss of her son.  
“Just call me Sally.” Sally grimaced, holding Ranboo in her arms, the latter of which was struggling with a slight look of pain on his face.

Niki nodded, but quickly felt a tight restriction in her throat, and felt the effects of the potion finally leave her system, and water quickly filled her lungs.  
Niki began to struggle in the water as Sally’s eyes widened, Sally let go of Ranboo and began to drag Niki up towards the surface, then hesitated.

Sally let Niki go and grabbed Ranboo by the arm, and then grabbed Niki and began dragging them up, avoiding the drowned that jumped out at them.  
Niki felt her lungs constrict and her vision started becoming dark as she was dragged up, the once-friendly warmth of the water  
Becoming the cold of a dead person's coffin.

Sally hugged both of them as they reached lighter water, biting her lip as she threw them up towards the surface of the water.

Ranboo took a small gasp for breath while Niki struggled for breathing again, coughing and hacking up any water that had been in her lungs, throwing up a small bit of water as well.  
Ranboo swam over to Niki and rubbed her back, grimacing as he still felt water on his skin, the feeling burning him with every movement.

Sally popped up next to them, frowning as she watched Niki cough and gasp for air, but still getting air nonetheless.

“I’m so sorry.” Sally looked down into the water, down at her salmon like tail that always felt so dull since that one day nine years ago.

“KIDS!” The three turned as Puffy screamed for them, just a small dot in the distance that was quickly coming towards them, how Puffy saw them was anyone’s idea.  
“Puffy!” Ranboo screamed out, quite desperately to leave the big blue that had swallowed him just minutes ago, now it was acting as if it was a friend that had always known him.

He needed to getaway.  
He needed to leave.

He needed.  
He needed.  
He needed.

Ranboo felt his breath pick up as he was reminded of his situation, the water gripped him like a small child strangling a small doll, and he began to thrash around, feeling his breath picking up as the water burned away at his skin and ate him up. Niki watched as Ranboo seemed to lose himself and began thrashing in the water next to her and backed away slightly, and Sally swam at Ranboo and gripped his arms, trying to keep the poor boy still.

Puffy was getting closer as Ranboo began to panic and panic more, the sounds of the enderman hybrid filling the small bubble that seemed to surround the three.  
Sally held Ranboo tight, both holding him above the surface and making sure he wouldn’t hurt himself or others.

Puffy was finally nearly above them and reached down to pick Ranboo up first, and Sally let Ranboo go for Puffy to lift him over the side of the boat and into the dry centre of the boat.  
Niki went up next, hoisting herself up with the help of Puffy and falling into the boat.

Sally watched with sad eyes as Puffy and Niki knelt to calm down Ranboo’s breathing and ease his fear.

Ranboo felt the water leave his skin, but it all still burnt, he could hear voices calling out for him, but they seemed muffled in his panic.

“Ranboo!” Niki patted Ranboo’s shoulder and the boys breathing started to calm down slightly, then, in a tradition that her family had always known, she pulled out the flower from the bag and handed it to Ranboo.  
Ranboo took the flower and shoved it into his mouth, still breathing heavily as his movements calmed down at last.

Puffy watched Ranboo calm down and looked over the side of the boat at his captor.  
“Why, if it is Sal?” Puffy looked into Sally’s eyes as the mermaids' eyebrows lowered.  
“Hi Puffy...” 

Puffy dipped her hands into the water, “Why’d you kidnap Ranboo?” Sally lowered herself into the water more.

“My sons' captor made me, he said he’d tell me where he took my son.” Puffy sighed and grabbed onto Sally’s hand.

“I’ll take you back to Wilbur.” Sally nodded, and Puffy took the oars again, letting Niki calm Ranboo as she began sailing back to shore, the sun finally setting on the horizon and causing the sky to darken in the place of a once bright and colourful sky.  
Now a sky filled with a dark blue that seemed to mourn for something everyone has lost.

The sound of water was loud in the silent night, the music that once filled the air fading and silent, drowning away in the sound of waves, water, and the splashes of the fish.

Sally swam along with the boat, tail moving and spinning the water as she went, silent as her eyes trained on the mainland.

Ranboo calmed down after five minutes of rowing, and now held himself tightly in a little ball in the bottom of the boat with Niki watching over him, holding a torch in her hand so that Puffy could see where she was sailing.

Puffy stared straight ahead, rowing with every bit of strength she had. Puffy could see her ship just ahead, the lanterns of the ship becoming a direction as Puffy began to row towards the ship.

Sally dove down a small bit and saw a glowing squid just moving through the rocks in the ground, moving alongside a small axolotl that seemed to communicate with it at every turn. Sally wished for that kind of peace.

The water soon became shallower, and the ship was just ahead of them.

“Do you guys want some dry clothes?” Puffy dropped the oars and looked at Niki and Ranboo’s soaking clothes that would no doubt be cold.

Niki looked down at Ranboo then back up at Puffy, “that’d be nice...thank you.”

Puffy nodded and shouted up for someone in her crew, “Connor, help us up!”

|

Niki stood on the deck of the ship, wearing a nice white shirt that Puffy had granted her, along with a brown vest that seemed far too nice for someone of her class to be wearing, same with the knee-length boots and black leggings that had been granted to her.

Ranboo was having a more difficult time with his height, being around 8’3 at the moment.  
He was an enderman hybrid.  
He showed a lot of those traits.

Niki sat on a barrel as the ship swayed, looking up at the stars that graced the night sky, seeing each constellation and every planet that could be seen with the human eye. The moon was moving along behind her, moving into the night sky and shining down on everyone.

The music had grown louder as they grew closer, but it was still quiet, just seeming quiet enough to be relaxing after the day's events.

“Hey, sally?” The mermaid looked up from the steering wheel, having changed to a form with legs quite quickly after what happened.  
“What else was the man threatening?” Niki wasn’t convinced that just her son was the reason, especially since it was just where he was, she was too scared for that.

Sally looked down and took a deep breath, “he threatened my son's life, along with Prince Theseus’ and Prince Robin, to show proof, he even showed the wings of Prince Theseus and the horns of Prince Robin, it wouldn’t kill them to have those removed, but it always meant he could kill them.” Sally took a deep breath, tears nearly falling down her face.  
“He also threatened my husband's life, along with Prince Technoblade and King Philza’s.” Sally shook as she spoke, gripping the wheel of the boat until her knuckles turned white.

“What was his name?” Niki felt the words leave her tongue without a restriction, making Sally pause.

“His name was-“ the whirring of an arrow cut Sally off, slipping overhead and right to where she was.

Sally then had an arrow sticking out of her throat.

Niki fell off the barrel and felt herself move backwards as Sally fell to the ground, the arrow shining through the entirety of her neck and out the other side.  
Blood spurted out of the wound and began to pool onto the deck, no doubt dripping into Puffy’s captain quarters.

Niki looked around frantically for the murderer, and looked into the trees, just seeing a white smiley makes looking down at her before it quickly disappeared, and Nikki couldn’t tell if it was a hallucination or not.

Niki shot her head back towards Sally, Who now lay limp and unmoving, the blood still dripping down the stairs and towards Niki.

Niki covered her mouth and balanced herself on the barrel she had been sitting on, standing up and moving towards the captain's quarter.

“Puffy!” Niki shouted, looking up at Sally as the blood continued to drop down, and Niki could just see Sally’s dull and glassy eye staring back at her.

“PUFFY!”

|

Dream watched as Sally fell and Niki began to call for the captain of the ship, playing with the one remaining arrow he had left.

“I told you to play your part.” Dream muttered, moving away from the tree line and walking back towards the village.  
The trees whipped against him as he walked, ignoring the screams of the crew of the ship as they saw the body of a once-loved individual.

Dream slung his bow on his back and keep the arrow in his hand.

Dream looked down the arrow towards the castle as it came into view. He smirked as he saw someone moving around at the top of the castle.  
Eret would cry himself to sleep that night, then wake up in the morning and try and run the country while running on grief.

|

Puffy looked down at Sally in horror as Niki tried to explain what happened, but her words became a jumbled mess as she stared down at Sally.

Puffy kneeled next to Sally as the mermaid started to fizz.

“What’s happening?” Niki asked, a few tears breaking her sentence as she heard the fizzing.

“It’s...a mermaid thing.” Puffy placed a hand on Sally’s head as she started to fade away, turning into the foam under the gentle hand of the pirate captain.

The crew watched as Sally faded away into sea foam, being their heads for another person they all have lost.  
They could only imagine what would happen when the princes found out.

All that was left of Sally was a bracelet with an amethyst planted into it.

Puffy picked up the bracelet and held it close, sighing as she turned to Niki.  
“I’ll be joining you, after today’s events, I don’t think you or your family is safe, and besides,” puffy held out her hand and opened her palm to show the bracelet.  
“I have to give Wilbur the bad news.”


	7. Chapter 6

They ran.

The leaves crunched and snapped under their feet, filling the silent yet tense and urgent air with even more urgency than it had provided before, the uneasy feeling of someone right behind them fuelling them.

Tommy could still hear the sounds of rats and the smell of blood even as the smell of pine and the forest mixed in with the wonderful memory.

“fucking hurry Tubbo!” Tubbo pushed his legs, sweat streaming down his face as a panicked expression smeared across Is features.

That man that had spoken to them.

He was bad.

He had a compass on his hip, and enchanted one, actually he had five.

He had weapons.

He had killed everyone in that fucking mansion.

And he had totems of undying.  
Why?

The birds from earlier had silenced themselves as the boys beneath them ran. Were there even birds?

Tommy felt the discs and the bee shuffling around in his satchel, their clinking adding an even more urgent noise to the area.  
Tubbo began to feel tears blur his vision, he had the image of that man in the chandelier I braved into the darkest pits of his mind.  
He’d never be able to see a good day thanks to that memory again.

Tubbo gasped for air as they finally broke through the forest barrier, but the feeling of urgency and terror would never leave.

Never.

Tommy and Tubbo continued running, and they wouldn’t stop running until they were in the confines of somewhere safer than an open field.  
That man had a bow and arrow.

The grass seemed less playful now as the sun disappeared, only darkness surrounding them as the grass cut through their Karin and bones.  
The lights lit up the sky as the festival continued, no one knowing of the teenager's terror.

Tommy and Tubbo burst through the field and began running through the village again.

They pushed past people, including people that seemed to try and help them, just desperate for a familiar face.

Until they both ran into something tall and stood in its place.

Tommy and Tubbo fell to the ground, both breathing heavily with torn expressions upon their faces.

Tubbo looked up quickly to see who they had run into, ready to be chewed out, but instead, “what happened?” It was the stand owner from earlier.  
Sam.

Just now did Tommy notice that the man was a creeper hybrid, and was much taller when he stood up.  
Tubbo pulled himself up while Tommy remained on the ground, staring at his feet.

“I...In the woods, m-me and Tommy fo-found a woodlands mansion....b-b-but...” tubbo took a deep breath as he waved his hands, “some man had already been there an-and brutally m-murdered everyone there, for totems of un-undying.” Tubbo began to ramble on under his breath about what the body he saw looked like.

Tommy stood up with shaky legs, hearing gasps from a few passing villagers as Tubbo mentioned the Totem of undying.

Sam’s face turned to one of sympathy, and he patted Tubbo on the shoulder, effectively quieting Tubbo.

“Come inside, you should calm down.”

|

Niki and Ranboo walked beside Puffy as they walked towards the hospital, grief-stricken faces as Puffy held the bracelet that had once been Sally’s, the gem sparkling like it still had the spark of a dead woman.

People whispered as puffy walked past, whispering rumours about her being ruthless and an uncaring captain.  
But just stay with her for an hour and you know that she acts like a mother for those she captains.  
She’s like a knight more than a Pirate.

But no one dared to stop the pirate.

“So...I’ve never asked for your brother's names....may I ask them?” Puffy sounded solemn and a small bit hollow, but still seemed to try and become more optimistic.

Niki cleared her throat that seemed to wear and tear ever since Sally’s killing, “the youngest is Tommy, he’s reckless and always gets into trouble, but he’s funny. Then Tubbo loves bees and has more manners than Tommy, but they're attached at the hip. And then...Fundy..” Niki paused and thought about Fundy.

Fundy was supposed to be her youngest brother, but right now he could be older than her, “he has a rapid ageing curse, but he’s...funny and nice.” Niki sighed and rubbed her arms.

Puffy lowered her eyebrows and looked down, clutching the bracelet even more tightly in her hands.

Ranboo let out small endermen noises as he shivered, rubbing his arms as the moonlight illuminated the sky, along with the lights that had just been released into the sky.  
One for every person lost.

Niki looked around as they passed by buildings and abandoned stands, staring at a closed bakery and smiling as she saw a small family on a rooftop, pointing out the lights to their children.  
Jimmy and Helga would always do that with them when their lights were released.

Niki watched a man in a colourful attire pace outside what looked like a library, clutching a book with a swirl in his arms.  
When the group passed he gave them afar to anxious look for anyone.  
Niki noticed he was only staring at her and Ranboo, not Puffy like everyone else.

The ground seemed loud in the silent night, the pattering of their boots almost like cannon fire in the silence.

Soon they came to the town square.

Where Fundy had gotten sick.

Niki could see the splotch of blood, but couldn’t see her cloth in the place of the blood.  
Strange.

Ranboo looked ahead as the hospital came into view.  
“Well..were here..” Puffy and Niki looked up at the hospital and each took a deep breath.

Niki opened the door and began walking towards a person sitting on a wooden stool.  
“Excuse me?”

“If you're looking for the fox, he’s right there.” The person pointed at a door just down a hall.

“Thanks..”

Niki felt the wooden boards of the hospital creak, the stone walls felt like they were going to collapse, it all felt too small.

Ranboo reaches the door and shoved it open, looking inside the stone and wooden room.

Fundy lay on the bed, someone sitting next to him, watching him.

“Hello?” Ranboo walked towards the other side of Fundy’s bed and looked at the person.

Eret looked back at him, white eyes burrowing holes into his skull.

“Your highness...” Ranboo looked down at Fundy.  
They removed his hat, but now he slept, seeming peaceful, unlike when he was hacking up globs of blood and mucus.

“Eret....?” Puffy sighed and clutched the bracelet to her chest, squeezing her eyes shut as Eret looked towards her, standing from their chair and walking over to the captain.

Eret glances down at the bracelet before looking into Puffy’s eyes, “Puffy, it’s good to see you again.” Puffy nodded but blinked quickly as she felt tears in her eyes.

“Eret?” Puffy held up the bracelet for Eret to see, and she could tell her eyes widened.

Eret reaches out and touched the amethyst in the jewelry.

“Sally’s dead....” Puffy took a deep breath, “She was murdered by a masked bowsman.” Eret put his hands on Puffy shoulders as she began to shake.

No more words were exchanged as Eret hugged Puffy, letting the woman grieving the loss of her friend.

What more could Eret do for one of his past knights.  
Their head knight.

Ranboo and Niki watched from Fundy’s bedside as Puffy shook and Eret hugged her, remaining silent as they mourned someone they cared for dearly.

Footsteps came from outside, along with voices that sounded like Tommy and Tubbo’s, along with another voice that overlapped with theirs.

Puffy rubbed her eyes and pulled from the hug, moving away from Eret as Eret opened the door to the room.

Tommy, Tubbo, And Sam stood outside the door, Tommy reaching out to grab at the door. The three males nodded as Eret passed them and walked down the hallway and back out of the hospital.

The darkness in the room felt as though it was choking everyone in it.

“What...the fuck...” Fundy groaned as he sat up in bed, rubbing his throat and head, everyone in the room sprung up and ran to his side, well, Sam stayed at the door. Niki grabbed onto Fundy’s wrist and smiled down at him, shaking as Fundy just looked around confused.  
“When did we get here?” Fundy coughed into his sleeve, “and who are they?” Fundy, with a shaking hand, pointed at Puffy and Sam.

“Puffy helped us find some Lapis for you, and....” Niki looked at Sam, then towards Tommy and Tubbo, “Sam helped us after....” Tubbo’s speech trailed off and he closed his mouth.  
Niki nodded, understanding that Tubbo probably didn’t want to talk about it.

Fundy sat up fully in the bed and looked around the room, then out the window, eyes wide, “when did we get to the mainland?” 

Niki paused and squeezed Fundy’s hand, “we got here hours ago, you’ve been passed out for most of those hours.” Fundy stared down at Niki, then at his hands.  
“Well, I feel fine.”

Niki nodded, “of course you do...”

Tommy looked towards Sam, then at Tubbo, pulled something from his satchel, “Sam gave us this for you...” it was a carving of a small fox, curled up on itself, another fox attached to the carving, an older fox, the mother or father that Fundy had before he became an orphan.  
Fundy reached out for the carving and grabbed it, holding it to his chest, “I’m still feeling good.”

Niki smiled softly, “anyhow, we have travelling tomorrow, we have to make it to L’manburg by tomorrow evening..” Niki sighed, “and we have to deliver some bad news to prince Wilbur.”

Tommy and Tubbo began shouted something along the lines of ‘what did you guys do?’ And ‘why couldn’t we be part of the property damage?’  
“Someone killed Princess sally.” The two boys shut up quickly, and both but their lips, looking back at each other.

Puffy looked down at the bracelet, eyes glinting with sadness with the amethyst.

Ranboo felt his shoulders droop and his head fall, the thought of hearing the screams and then running out onto the deck to see a screaming crew in ruins near a pile of seafoam rung clean in his mind.  
And he could do nothing to help.  
Nothing.  
He could never do anything.

Niki looked across her family, then down at what would’ve been her youngest brother if it weren’t for that ageing curse.

Tomorrow was another day for them.

And she wanted to watch out for whoever that masked motherfucker was.

|

Dream threw the totem in the air and caught it, watching the ‘family’ through the window from a rooftop.

The wind blew through his hair as the lights in the sky illuminated his back, just not giving him the cover he wanted, but enough cover to let him hide.  
Just enough.

Dream set the totem in his bag and pulled something else out.

A pair of white round glasses.

Dream stared down at the objects, telling a story in his head over and over again.  
The story about the execution of a colourless man that killed a king.  
That damned story.  
They were real somewhere else.  
He knew they were.

Tales of discs, explosions, countries, lost cities, a village gone mad.  
A village gone mad.  
That could be perfect.  
For now, he could entertain himself.

but how could he do the village gone mad?

A storyteller finds a way.


	8. Chapter 7

They woke the next day to the sounds of music and festivals, people chattering outside as the festivities continued until the end of the festival on the day of Prince Theseus’ kidnapping.

“Just as morbid as ever,” Ranboo muttered, stretching out as he rose from the bed that had been prepared for all of them.

Mutters of agreement came from his family as they all began to rise as well, stretching and growing as the morning smell of dew and spring fog-filled their nostrils. Bakeries could be smelt inside of the room, smelling of fresh pastries and tasty sweets that made people’s mouths water just thinking about them.

Ranboo slipped on a leather jacket for the morning cold and rubbed his hand against the glass of the window, feeling small droplets of afterburn his hand.  
He hissed slightly as the water hit his hand.  
But this water couldn’t hurt him too badly.  
Unlike the ocean.

As Ranboo stared out of the window, Tommy and Tubbo they on their bandanas and a jacket and left their room, no doubt going to see Puffy and Sam, Who were both joining them on the journey to L’manberg, the second kingdom that they needed to reach before they made it to the Antarctic empire.  
Tommy and Tubbo’s loud quiet voices trailed down the hallways of wood and stone, soon fading out as they entered another room.

Fundy sat in his bed, rubbing his snout with the back of his hand as he coughed lightly.  
Probably shouldn’t be joining them but he was far too unstoppable in his goals to be stopped from joining his family on the journey.

Fundy was another unstoppable force in the family.  
Most of the family was.

Niki tied her hair back into a ponytail to keep her hair from blocking her vision while they would continue their journey. Niki lowered her hands as she saw Ranboo clutch his arms in the mirror of the shattered shelf.  
Always worried.  
Always forgetting.

They all walked, Puffy leading while Sam took up the back, Tommy and Tubbo staying behind with him as they chatted.  
Whatever they had all talked about in Sam’s house, it had gained the two boys' trust.  
So Niki, Ranboo, And Fundy trusted Sam.  
Just like how Tommy and Tubbo trusted Puffy.

The stone path that had been the village slowly but surely faded into the dirt, the bustling town becoming towering oak trees, but these were friendly, unlike the trees of the forest that Tommy and Tubbo had travelled into.

Those trees held many dark secrets.

They held the souls of all who had been lost.

Puffy held an ink sack in her hand, having carefully made a fully functioning pouch to hold the bracelet of Sally within it. Niki had just seen Puffy place the bracelet in there.  
Fundy weighed down on Ranboo slightly as they walked, small coughing escaping at certain points, but never anything that could be considered serious.

It used to be so normal.

The group passed three boys arguing over something, unintelligible shouting blocking many other noises that were held clean in the air. Niki watched the boys as they passed, just noticing the boy in the colourful wear as they passed. The same boy who had been at the library.  
Another of the two boys was familiar, but Niki couldn’t place a finger on it.  
All she could tell was that he was a shapeshifter with that floating head of his.

And they passed.

The forest began to become thicker, but the wildlife became plenty. A fox had trotted past and had stared at Fundy, who made quick conversation with the fox before it pranced off again. A couple of rabbits had bounced across their path and just as quickly bounced off again.

It felt peaceful.  
Just like in the village with Jimmy and Helga.  
Ranboo felt a pit in his stomach as he thought of Helga and Jimmy as if something terrible had happened.

Very terrible.

The walk was feeling quiet, even the birds had started to shush up, but they still spoke a song that the human ears couldn’t translate. The squirrels only chuckled every so often.

It felt like a fairytale.

Tommy gaped at the mushrooms that started appearing in trails along the ground, while Tubbo noticed an increase in bees that swarmed around the flowers and the trees.

Sam watched the two teenagers gape at the mushrooms and Bees before pausing.

“Hey Tommy, Tubbo?” Sam kneeled and pointed ahead, but slightly to the left, “when we reach that one birch tree, look to your left.” Tommy and Tubbo nodded, acting like kids when they ran up ahead of Puffy and looked to the birch tree.

Niki watched the boys run to the tree and look to their left, and suddenly started to smile and point at something, shouting back to the group as they began to catch up.

Mushrooms and bees grew plenty as Ranboo looked into the birch trees' direction.

A clearing was not too far away, sunlight shining down onto the shining emerald grass. Flowers grew like wildfire in the clearing, covering it in life and indescribable beauty.  
But at the centre of it all were two cows.

One the colour of an afternoon daffodil, the other looking like the reddest of the best mushrooms, and each cows colour mixed and made Harmony in the clearing.

“Woah.” Niki smiled as she looked out into the clearing.

Puffy rubbed her eyes and looked into the field, then back at Sam, then at the clearing, “I thought mooblooms went extinct, and I haven’t seen a mooshroom in so long.” Puffy joined in her place at the five people whispering as the cows laid among the flowers and mushrooms of their creation.

Tommy and Tubbo each picked a few mushrooms and flowers and swore to make the best flower crowns.  
The others grabbed some as well.

At that moment, it was as if every problem ceased to exist.

The group continued and the cows have left to peace again.

The moobloom rested its head in the grass and began to slowly fade away, becoming one with its nature.  
The mooshroom lowered its head but walked off, disappearing from the clearing and returning to where it had come from.

|

Niki hopped over a log as they all continued.  
Sam managed to get over the log with ease.  
Plus of being freakishly tall.

They had all been travelling for hours at that moment, and most of them just kind of wanted to finally rest after the long day of moving their legs to the beat of a drum that didn’t exist.

Puffy hummed along to the tune of a sea shanty she had learned years back, now she couldn’t remember who had taught it to her but the hands of time. 

Tubbo and Tommy were still happily talking about their encounters with the two magic cows that always seemed like fairytales when Helga had told stories about them when they were kids.  
Kids.

Ranboo held a pastry in his hand, staring down at the baked good that had been made a couple of days prior. It looked sweet and smelled sweet.  
And it sure tasted sweet.  
Jimmy was always a good baker.  
Ranboo felt the pit in his stomach become deeper as he thought of Helga and Jimmy in the past tense, almost as if they were gone.  
They couldn’t be gone through.  
Never.  
They knew how to defend themselves, and they were both very healthy.  
So why was Ranboo worrying?

Ranboo is he’s and rubbed his arms, he was always so paranoid, so it made sense that he was worrying for the people he saw as parents.

The forest grew thinner and thinner as they walked, but the dirt path remained the same, crunching under their feet and offering an easy pathway towards a second destination.

The sun overhead had moved to almost the other side of the sky, showing its age throughout the day, having been hidden by fog in the morning, but now it shone brighter than it ever had before.

Sam held a compass in his hand and looked down at it, watching the needle move slightly every time he moved, north always in the same direction as it was the day before.

Tubbo watched Sam as he looked down at the compass while still talking to Tommy, who happily chatted on about the mooshroom.  
Tubbo much preferred the moobloom.  
He didn’t ponder on how Sam would’ve known that the cows were there.

Soon the trees turned to fields, people working in the fields waving as the small group passed, and they all waved back.  
It was an untold rule to wave at the farmers who work so hard.

Ahead they could all see the towers of the walls to l’manberg, but with how tall the towers were rumoured to be, it’d still be a very long walk until they had reached the defensive country.

“Somewhere nearby are the remains of Pogtopia.” Puffy broke the silence between most of the group besides Tommy and Tubbo.  
“Like Prince Wilbur’s old kingdom?” Niki questioned, waving to a small girl who waved to her from a growing cornfield.

Puffy nodded, “he used to say that he named it after an idea he and Theseus made as kids.” Puffy seemed to smile softly, closing her eyes like to remind herself of the past.  
“Okay, good question,” Ranboo spoke up, “I get the memory pages for the lost stable boy and the fox colours for the lost prince, but music discs? Baked goods? Bees? And now a baby helping to name a country? How?”

Puffy giggled quietly, covering her mouth, “Well, you see, apparently, when Nihachu was young, she would wander into the kitchen whenever the bakers were baking, and only then, so they use baked goods to remember her, for Robin, he always played with bees whenever they were nearby and would always choose his bee plush that king Schlatt had made him over everything else, and Prince Theseus would only sleep when the music discs Cat and Mellohi were playing.” Sam nodded along, “which was why my Cat And Mellohi discs had been nearly sold out when you purchased them.”

Tommy nodded along with Tubbo.

“And for the country naming, prince Wilbur just write down names and let Prince Theseus smack one of them to choose.” Puffy smiled, recounting a story she had been told by Wilbur herself.  
Ranboo nodded in satisfaction, having his questions answered.

Tommy rubbed the back of his neck as his back began to ache greatly, though he knew it’d only last a moment, he still paused, feeling something move under his skin.  
He’d just wake in a pile of blood and feathers.

The music discs in his bang stopped their rhythmic clicking and stopped with Tommy.

“Tommy, hurry up,” Tubbo called back as the group moved ahead, and Tommy snapped out of his hazy mindset and quickly ran to catch up, the discs resuming their music.

The sun began to set as the colours of the sky mixed into each other and created the look of a fire that would intro the sky until it followed lady sun to the ground and allowed mister moon to rise into his throne in the sky to rule over his thousands of children that always plagued the night sky.  
And the seven stood at the walls of L’manburg, behind a family who was being let it as well.

The walls were taller than the trees they had exited but smaller than the trees that had held the monstrous mansion.

The family ahead of them was let in and quickly disappeared into the forest of shops and homes.

Puffy walked p to the knights guarding the walls, followed by the rest of the travelling group.  
But the knight quickly raised his hand, “Puffy, it is a welcoming sight to see you again.” The knight tilted his head, his emotions being hidden by the mask.

Puffy nodded, “it indeed is, but I’m just here for visiting with a group of mine, no political matters like the last time.” The knight nodded, looking past puffy at the others.  
The only one that looked intimidating was Sam, Who towered above the group and the guard, well, not Ranboo.

The knight welcomed the group into L’manburg quickly and they started walking along the wooden path of the kingdom.

Citizens passed them, holding lanterns that were covered in drawings of bees and flowers.  
The kingdom of Prince Robin.

Bee decor was strung around everywhere, along with smaller douses of orange banners and a music disc wall.  
Every kingdom had a memorial for each lost soul.

Niki had smelled the number of bakeries back in Esempee.  
It always overpowered the smell of the morning dew.  
Here it smelled of honey and wildflowers.

“Beside King Philza, I’d say Schlatt mourned the most, but even then, Philza lost three while Schlatt lost one, and his only son.” Puffy lowered her ears as she looked into L’manburg, seeing so many bee decorations around, especially seeing black and yellow banners decorating the tallest tower of the castle that stood at the centre of the kingdom.

Tubbo watched as a bee flew past, and many others after it.  
He felt a sense of unease as the talking of king Schlatt was brought up.  
But the bees made everything better.

Bees were nice creatures.

The wood beneath their feet creaked, the chatter of surrounding people filled Tubbo's brain as he paused to look at the bees forming a group along a flower bed.

And then he was alone.  
He didn’t know how long he was staring at the bees, but now he puking see or hear his family and their two friends.

Tommy looked behind him after a few minutes of silence from Tubbo, and saw nothing, “oh fuck.”  
Tommy paused and looked behind him, Ranboo paused with him, “What’s wrong Tommy?”

“We lost Tubbo.” Tommy looked behind him back at their group disappearing into the crowd, “we’ve got each other, he’s got nothing, so let’s go for him.”

And so the family separated again, Tommy and Ranboo looking for Tubbo, Tubbo looking for them, and Niki with Sam, Puffy, And Fundy moving ahead with a newfound silence.

|

He looked down at the group of four as the two separated from them, watching as the fox, the baker, the pirate, and the man he commissioned walked away from the annoying one and the forgetful one.

He’d follow the two, as he four had higher defences with a former knight and a creeper hybrid.

Dream merged himself with the crowd and began to follow the two boys, morphing his head into its original form of a floating sphere, like any good shapeshifter.  
He couldn’t look like he did back at the mansion.  
The annoying one would freak out.  
Just like he did all those years ago.

He was still the same kid.  
But now, Dream couldn't hesitate to slaughter him if it came to it.  
He couldn’t kill any of them this time if it came to it.


	9. Chapter 8

Tubbo began to wander and mix himself in with the crowd, sometimes pausing to see if a person he saw was actually who he was looking for.  
It never was.

Tubbo felt the wooden path of L’manberg under his feet and he heard it creak.  
He could even hear water underneath the pathway.  
L’Manberg was built on a series of rivers with the castle being built on a lake.

Opposite to Esempee, which was built just beside the water, never on top of it besides the docks.

Tubbo looked around at the glowing lights of the street lamps, seeing and feeling comfortable as he stared at the bee decor that was hidden in the dark light that was now night time.

The people around him talked and laughed, blocking out any calls that could be from his family, all blocked by the gossiping and the chatter.  
Tubbo looked around at signs and vendors to try and figure out a place he could find his family, like a town square, or a coliseum.  
He couldn't read the signs.

The words blended and made it far more difficult to read.  
It's always been like this.  
Tubbo couldn't read as well as everyone else had been able to.

The buzzing of the bees that filled the kingdom blended into the sounds that soon became a mess of noises and distractions as Tubbo pushed his way through crowds as his head began to hurt, the sound only amplifying the pain.

The bee decoration still stood out though, leaving him a thing that could leave him calm.  
Bees.

Tubbo slowed his breathing quickly, holding his breath and letting it out as he continued pushing through the crowds that gathered at different vendors and stands, looking at the merchandise offered.

And he continued down a path again, travelling down a less crowded row of stands than one that had people at every stand.

Tubbo continued to hear chatter, but now the sounds of bees, the creaking of the wood, and flickering flames were the only thing he could hear.  
It all comforted him.

Tubbo held the straps of his satchel in his hand tightly, using it as a source of comfort to hold onto while he was alone.  
But it wasn't like he and never been alone before.

Looking up, Tubbo could see the stars in the dark blue sky above, along with a few banners that were left flying in the sky. Yellow and black mixed together, with few hints of red, pink, and orange.

And he was glad he looked up.  
Shooting stars graced the skies, and Tubbo took a deep breath, wishing to find his family again.

His feet continued to move as he closed his eyes to wish, and he didn't open his eyes in time to see he was about to run into someone.

Tubbo collided with the person he didn't see and fell back a bit, but was quickly caught by whoever he ran into.

Tubbo snapped open his eyes to see a man staring back at him, with the same wide eyes.

The man then promptly dropped him onto his back.

“Sapnap!” someone called out from a stand next to where Tubbo and the man-’Sapnap’ was.

The man raised his hands in defence, “I didn't mean to drop him!” Tubbo rubbed his head as the two voices began to argue back and forth about the logistics of how the man accidentally dropped him.

Tubbo could hear the rush of the water underneath him and felt it cloud his senses as the pain in his head grew.  
He rubbed his hand over a part of his head and felt sharp bumps growing from his head.

Tubbo winced as he felt his hands glide over the bumps.

“Are you alright?” the world and noise seemed to halt, and Tubbo looked up to see a man in a colourful cloak staring down at him, a hand extended out towards him.  
Tubbo took the hand and the man hauled him up.

“Yea, I'm fine, just a small but hurt in the head.” Tubbo rubbed his head again and the man looked at where Tubbo’s hand moved upward a small bit.  
“May I see it?” Tubbo nodded and felt the man rub his hand through his hair, pausing over the bumps in his head.

“Have you ever considered being a hybrid?” Tubbo paused at the suggestion from the man.

Has he ever really considered it?

“No sir....” Tubbo rubbed his head again and felt the bumps in his head, and it made sense to be a hybrid, like a ram or a bee.  
If he was a hybrid, Tubbo hoped he was a bee.

“Call me Karl.” Karl looked over to the two other men arguing over something different now, “and those are my fiance's, Quackity and Sapnap.” Tubbo peered out from behind Karl to look at the two.

Then something clicked in his brain.

Tubbo began rushing through his satchel, looking at every object in the bag.  
And he pulled out two smaller satchels for the gifts that Helga and Jimmy had given them to deliver to their friend and grandson.

“Do you know anyone named Helga and Jimmy?” Tubbo held the two bags in his hand.  
Karl's eyes lit up, “Yeah, We've been friends for a while, and it's how I met Quackity.” Tubbo smiled and nodded, “they gave these to me and my siblings for you guys.” 

Karl took the two bags and smiled, “I think Helga and Jimmy have mentioned you in letters, Tubbo right?” Tubbo nodded.

“Then...where are the other four?” Tubbo lowered his shoulders and looked around, “I lost them after getting distracted by the bees.” 

Karl nodded and tired the watches around his waist, clipping them on so they wouldn't fall off, “I’ll help you find them, and I'm sure that my fiances would love to help.”

Karl left Tubbo and moved over to the still arguing men that only stopped when he git in between them.  
He began to explain something with his hands, his mouth moving but Tubbo couldn't hear him over the noise of the other sounds of the kingdom.

Tubbo shifted his weight and looked around the row.  
Nobody else was there beside them, and it all felt so abandoned, even with the red and yellow glow of the lanterns scattered around.  
It was as if everyone on earth had disappeared all at once.

Then a hand fell onto his shoulders and the false reality of no one existing faded away quickly.  
It all melted together again, and Tubbo could hear the sound of distant human chatter not too far away, the lights in homes began far easier to see.  
And it all clicked into place.

“C’mon Tubbo, let's go find your family.”

|

The four had no luck after thirty minutes of looking around the area for wherever any of Tubbo’s family could be. Maybe Tubbo had drifted far away from where he had originally started.

He did walk and run a small bit while he was alone.

Karl and Sapnap had resorted to asking around to see if anyone has seen any of the people they were looking for.  
No one had seen anything.

Tubbo watched as Karl once again asked another person if they had seen anyone with the descriptions that Tubbo had given them so they could describe his family.

Quackity kept with Tubbo at all times, sometimes asking a person if they had seen anybody as well.

Even Tubbo had begun asking around for any evidence that his family was anywhere.

And soon they were standing in a town place outside of the castle, the moon now held in the middle of the sky.  
It was midnight.

The stars created a blue glow that covered the tops of rooftops but was not strong enough to overpower the yellow and red lanterns and candles.

Quackity clenched his hands as they had entered the town area and still kept his hands closed like it was a trap that was keeping an animal locked in its place.

Tubbo sat down on a bench next to him, Kale and Sapnap asking around still, keeping their determination up.  
Tubbo was just tired.  
He didn't get enough sleep the night before.  
All he saw was what was in that mansion back in Esempee.

“Big Q...” Quackity didn't comment on the nickname, “why are you so nervous, or upset?” Quackity looked down at Tubbo, then back up at the castle, eyes travelling over the black and yellow banners over the towers.

“Seventeen years ago, Prince Robin went missing, everyone knows the story, ” Quackity settled next to Tubbo, “and at that moment, I was engaged to King Schlatt, ” Tubbo felt shock travel to his face, but he quickly masked it.  
“And, a few weeks after his disappearance, he broke up with me, the reason..” Quackity’s hands clenched tighter.  
“He said ‘its because I don't want you to get hurt, as my son did.’” Quackity leaned his head to the side.  
“I get where he was going, he wanted to keep me safe, hell, we still talk sometimes, ” he then looked over to Karl and Sapnap.  
“But I'm happy I found them, I'm upset because Schlatt has to continue mourning.”

Tubbo nodded in understanding, then looked forward again.  
Sapnap was rushing over to them both.

“Someone says they've seen the tall one and the blonde one near the L’manberg fighting arena.” Tubbo jumped up instantly, nearly tripping over his own feet and rushed past Sapnap before stopping.

“Where is that?”

|

The group of four quickly started on their journey towards the arena, the lights all blended again, creating a world of colours and sounds that Tubbo now wants even trying to tell apart.  
He just wanted to see two familiar faces again.

The water underneath the creaky wooden boards stopped rushing, never going nearly as fast as Tubbo as he sprinted alongside Karl, Quackity, and Sapnap.

People moved out of their way as they hurried, mainly trying to catch Tommy and Ranboo at the fighting arena if they hadn't left already.

They could be gone by the time they get there.  
Tubbo hoped not.

The tall flag on the arena soon became easier to see as they grew closer and closer to the building, one of the tallest buildings in L’manberg.

Tubbo could hear people screaming as he got closer and closer to the arena, and the fear of what could've happened fueled him more and more as they got closer.

Then the crowd began to grow too thick for them to travel through it anymore, and the four were trapped at the edge of an ever-growing crowd.

“Up here!” Quackity jumped to the top of a stand and climbed to the top of a home.

Sapnap, then Tubbo and finally Karl followed him up, the sweat on Tubbo’s palms making it harder t climb up the house towards where he could see what was going on.

As he reached the top and was helped up by Sapnap, he felt his heart stop.

A monster, almost the size of the building he was standing on right now was circling something in the centre of the crowd, its hundreds of eyes staring down at whatever i's point was at the centre of it.  
Its tail whipped as it growled, its tail made a sound of an actual whip as it slashed around, keeping the crowd away from its prey.  
A green glow was in its deep dark eyes, the pinpoints just starting at its objective.

And Tubbo finally saw what it was circling.

The monster that seemed to want to kill at any moment just held back by invisible chains that gave off the eerie green glow.

It was circling two people, each holding pathetic it on swords against a huge monster.

Tubbo’s eyes widened as he saw who the two people were.

Ranboo and Tommy told at the centre of the monsters circle.


	10. Chapter 9

Tommy and Ranboo walked with the people as they looked over and over for Tubbo, seeing no sign of their smaller brother in the crowd of hair and clothing.

Even as Ranboo towered over everyone in the crowd, he still couldn't see Tubbo as they walked on the crickety wooden pathways of L'manberg, always seeming to want to let go underneath them. The thought made Ranboo's heart curl and twist in his chest.

Tommy heard the voices of everyone ringing in his ears as he walked along, calling for Tubbo at any chance that he could, attempting to hear a reply from the teenager.

Nothing.

Ranboo felt a small amount of panic settle in his chest the longer they looked and asked around for Tubbo.  
"Tubbo!" Tommy called out for Tubbo.

no response.

The crowd around them steadily moved like a droplet of honey running down a tilted table.

Maybe 'crowd' was an exaggeration, Only a few people actually walked along the pathway while most stayed in groups or surrounded certain stands and stalls, talking to the various merchants.

Ranboo looked back behind the two and bit his tongue.  
Niki, Fundy, Sam, and Puffy were far away, he couldn't see them.  
They were alone with strangers now.

The bright lights of the lanterns on the sides of the pathways bathed people in green and blue, seeming like the morning ocean, and the rushing water underneath their feet helped fuel that image in almost everyone's minds.

soon the two teenagers came to a split in the path.

two signs stood overhead, staring down at them. One read 'Merchant shops' while the other read 'fighting arena'.  
Both of the signs were scratched up and painted in various bright colours and various patterns.

"Knowing Tubbo, he probably read the signs and went towards the fighting arena." Tommy chuckled, then looked to Ranboo, but was surprised to actually see Ranboo walking towards the fighting arena.  
Tommy looked the other way before running to catch up to Ranboo.

Fewer people travelled down the path of the fighting arena, opting more for the merchants that would no doubt sell them something with high quality at a reasonable price.

Ranboo peered over the heads of all but other Endermen hybrids, looking around for Tubbo's mop of brown hair and his green shirt that had a bee patch stitched into it.

He saw nothing.

soon the stalls and stands grew far and few between, food stalls replaced with potion sellers and woodsmen replaced with blacksmiths.

They both there for the business they would get from the fighters that were heading to and leaving the fighting arena.

Soon, large groups were the only people, all talking about who they believed would be the winner of the battles that would last the rest of the week.  
Did you know that the fighting arena used to be a place to train individuals for the war against Pogtopia?  
Another fun fact, the war only ended because of the two missing princes.

Tommy strained his ears to hear who the fighters were going to be, hearing the names 'Ponk', 'Purpled', And 'Punz', along with small parts of names like 'Fool', 'Alo', 'Ske', 'Vel', and 'Ant'.  
He couldn't hear the context of what the names were, only the names.

Ranboo however, heard the meanings behind the people's names.  
Purpled was the youngest champion in the fighting arena.  
Punz was mainly a mercenary that was usually paid to fight in the arena.  
Ponk was a well-known sneaker that would sneak up on opponents.  
Ske and Alo worked together as partners to take down their enemies.  
Same with Vel and Ant.  
No one knew where Fool came from, he just showed up one day and began fighting, he literally appeared in the middle of the battlefield.

It felt almost entertaining hearing the bets people were placing upon the fighters that would soon fight within the arena until they were dragged off for being too injured.

Ranboo looked over each group and lowered his ears when he found that he couldn't see Tubbo at all.  
No sign that the boy had even come this way.

//

Dream sat on top of the building that was the fighting arena, staring down at Tommy and Ranboo as they walked around aimlessly, looking for someone who had gone in the complete opposite direction.

A book was clutched tightly in his hands, turning his knuckles white as he held onto the book like it was a lifeline.

Dream turned around and looked into the arena, seeing all the fighters training together as they laughed and joked about certain things.

He began flipping through the yellowing dusty pages of the book, looking for the exact spell that he needed just so he could have his fun before this time came to an end.

and soon he stopped.

There on the page was the exact curse he was looking for.

Dream began to mutter the incantation and waved his hand over the page in the pattern that the book showed, hearing a pained scream behind him as a feeling of control grew in his chest.

Growling came from behind him as a claw reached up and grasped at the ledge next to him, shouting of the fighters below fueling his need for control even more.

Dream was relieved that he had changed to his human form, or else so many people would know him, and this story would be over.

//

Tommy and Ranboo's heads snapped up at the sound, and Tommy felt his heart and eyes grow at the sight of the same man that had killed so many people in that woodland mansion not even two days before.

Both of the teenager's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates as a clawed hand clasped at the edge of the arena next to the man, and soon a monster twice the size of any mob peered its head over the edge, peering down at everyone as every person fight, flight, or freeze instinct came on. Many people ran screaming, others froze.  
No one raised their fists.

Tommy and Ranboo froze with fear as the eyes of the monster locked onto them, glowing eyes of a lightning blue threatening to tear the boys apart before they could even see the monster up close.

And soon the monster was speeding towards them and in a panic, Tommy stopped onto a piece of the wooden pathway. The wood gave out, and Tommy was able to grab at the two pieces of shattered wood, handing one over to Ranboo as he held it like a sword, and so did Ranboo.  
The monster froze meer feet from the boys and began to circle them.

Its eyes tore into their flesh and pulled out every separate nerve and blood vessel, tearing them apart like it was a hoard of zombies or wither skeletons.  
Ranboo locked eyes with the beast as it moved, freezing in place as agitation began to grow in his chest.

He should expect that as an enderman hybrid.

Tommy however more took notice of a white-looking shape that just peered out from the monster's head.

They both doubted that even the fabled Enderdragon could defeat this thing.

The monster circled the two teens like any good predator hunting down its prey, causing both of their knees to shiver.

"Come on you motherfucker, come at us!" Tommy could hear cries of protest from Ranboo, along with others that surrounded them.

The monster paused and growled, leaning back as if to pounce.

Tommy squeezed his eyes shut.

But nothing came.

Tommy opened his eyes to see a man wearing full netherite with a white bandana standing in front of them, the monster pausing to take in the look of the man.

The man was soon joined by two others, each of them holding enchanted swords to the monster, threatening it when it moved closer to the two boys.

"Tommy! Ranboo!" Both the teen's attention was brought to Tubbo, who stood not far away, waving his hands to catch their attention.  
Both boys began to run towards him.

Mistake.

The monster pounced over the three men and bolted towards the two, outrunning the adrenaline that fueled their systems.

it pounced over them and blocked them from Tubbo, and nearly causing the pathway underneath them to fall into the raging waters below.  
The boards of wood rocked and sunk under the weight of the monster as it stalked towards the two.

Ranboo fell onto his back as the two tried backing up, and Tommy kneeled to try and help him up, but the monster quickly slashed at Ranboo with its claws.  
It missed.

The boards underneath Ranboo fell, and Tommy slid to catch Ranboo as the enderman Hybrid fell through, almost hitting the water.  
Tommy gripped Ranboo's hand and clenched his teeth, hearing the sounds of the monster and fighting behind him as he tried to pull Ranboo up.

Ranboo felt his heart tighten as the world shrunk around him, the water just at his heels as he tried to pull himself up.  
His breathing was sporadic, and Ranboo couldn't calm himself no matter how hard he tried.

Tommy felt sweat build on his forehead as he began inching Ranboo up, his arm already aching as he pulled Ranboo from the water below them both.

And finally, he was up, breathing heavily as Tommy quickly got to his feet.

He turned around only to meet white teeth and an open mouth.

"Tommy!" Tubbo watched as the monster swallowed Tommy, a pit growing in his stomach as his legs weakened beneath him.

Everything seemed to pause, Karl, Sapnap, and Quackity all stopped mid-flight, swords raised and attacking the monster that they had let free for only one second too long.

Tubbo felt his legs collapse beneath him as he looked to the sky and screamed the song of the pained sirens.

Tommy opened his eyes after having them closed, seeing that he woke in a dark place, but not what he would expect a stomach to be like.

It was more like a barrel.

Tommy looked at his surroundings and noticed something immediately.  
Two lightning blue flying orbs stared back at him.

Tommy felt his heart stop as he began to look up and saw the same white blob from before.

Except now it was a person.

A man wearing a white cloak with weird strings attached to his head, his eyes pure white, staring at nothing.

Tubbo heard the shouting of people as a few others joined in on fighting the monster, only a mess of colours to the boy as the blinding pain in his head and the fact that his younger brother was just eaten almost sent him into hysterics.

A flash of blue zipped past him, distracting the monster from the dazed boy, just snapping him out of the daze as the monster crashed down next to him.

Tubbo tumbled back and began running in the opposite direction, running closer and closer to the tall fighting building.

several people with full netherite attacked the monster, shooting it with arrows, hitting it with axes and pickaxes, and slashing at it with swords.

Tubbo ran towards Ranboo, who was still cowering over near the hole that could've been his deathbed.  
"Ranboo...C'mon, you can't stay here.." Ranboo responded with distressed endermen noises.

Tubbo sighed and grabbed Ranboo, dragging him away from the hole and the monster that still threatened to kill them.

"Wake up goddammit!" Tommy shouted, smacking at the unconscious man that seemed to be the life controlling the damned monster they both were trapped inside.

The man groaned but didn't wake up.

A tall man stepped next to Tubbo and Ranboo, holding a sword in his hand, "Stay behind me!" Tubbo looked up at the demon, hugging onto Ranboo as the monster tried to creep closer and closer to the two.

The people attacking the monster seemed to barely be doing any damage to the monster.

"Go for the stomach!" A man in a blue cloak shouted, running towards the monster with his sword positioned to swing.

And swing he did.

Soon all of the fighters were attacking the underbelly of the monster, only being held back by the monster itself.

and soon, the stomach opened, and nothing came out besides an uninjured Tommy.

Tommy laid on the ground for a second before hopping up and backing away from the monster, watching as it fell over and disintegrated.

And what was left in its spot was the man in the white cloak.

"PUNZ!" One of the men shouted, running over towards the cloaked man as he finally began to stir.

Tubo and Ranboo walked over to Tommy, who looked back up at them.

"To-"  
"That thing was meant to capture us and bring us somewhere.." Tubbo clamped his mouth shut as Tommy spoke up, and felt his shoulders droop.  
"what?"

The world was only the three of them in that very moment, the screams of the people mixing with the accusations of the villagers.

Meant to...Capture them.

"TOMMY! RANBOO! TUBBO!" All three boys' heads shot up as Niki's voice filled their ears.


	11. Chapter 10

Niki ran in a panic, calling out for her brothers at any chance she got. Fundy, Puffy, and Sam all following behind her, also shooting the names of the missing boys.

The candles and lanterns illuminated the panic on Niki’s face along with the many faces that passed hers all mixing into a mess of tones and colours, blocking out her senses as she called out for three people.

Fundy was just behind Niki, watching each stand for where the teenagers could be. Sam and Puffy followed just at his heels, observing every face that they passed, panic tooting itself in them like a curse that couldn't be lifted.  
L’manberg was huge, and the pathways weren't always so sturdy in places.

As they walked along the pathway, children screamed with laughter, running around, like it was mocking the search of the four adults.  
The night sky overhead illuminated the faces that peered down from the roofs of various homes and shops, eyes staring at frantic and calm people in the wave of people that seemed nauseating.

Niki heard the creaking of the pathway under her, fearing what could've happened if Ranboo could've fallen into the water below the kingdom.

The crowd felt like a bottle of thick syrup, but it soon began to thin out, and Niki could only notice that people were running from something, eyes filled with panic and fear.

Niki finally cracked through the crowd, seeing something huge off in the distance, along with various colours attacking the thing.  
Niki picked up her speed, full out sprinting as she saw a monster peering over her brothers, but she only saw two of them.

Puffy, Sam, and Fundy were right behind as they arrived at the scene, and the monster dissipated, leaving Tommy and another man laying on the unsafe pathway that seemed to want to let loose beneath them.

Niki paused and took panicked breaths as she saw Tubbo and Ranboo run over to Tommy, and other people rushing over to the white-cloaked man.

“TOMMY! RANBOO! TUBBO!” Niki began running towards the boys as they all looked up towards her with wide eyes.

Fundy sped ahead of her and enveloped the boys in a hug just as she reached them.

Puffy and Sam stood to the sides.

“That creature ate Tommy...” Puffy sighed, crossing her arms and lowering her head as she shook it, hovering at the thought of what could've happened.  
“It was meant too...” Sam felt a pit growing in his stomach.  
He knew that spell.

“Mom...?” Puffy’s bead shot up, eyes growing wide as a golden person waved towards her, walking towards the two.

Puffy smiled as she quickly went off to ask if Foolish was alright, grabbing his arms and checking him over him for injuries.

Sam felt relief fall over him as Puffy left, but felt his heart rate speed up immediately, the thought of where that monster came from sickening him.  
He knew the exact book that the monster would come from.

He gave Dream that book.

Sam shook his head and began walking towards the shops in the path that was just off of the fighting arena.  
Isolated.

Wandering up to a potion seller, who had stayed behind despite the monster, and began to purchase some healing potions.  
The potion seller kept looking to the side of Sam, eyes trained on something behind Sam.

Sam placed the potions in his pouch and handed the potion seller the set amount of money.

Then he finally turned around to see a smiling mask staring back at him.

“Hello, Sam...” there was a condescending tone in Dream’s voice and Sam felt it in his gut that something bad was going on in the devil's mind.  
“Hello, Dream...” 

Dream looked to the potion seller, who had backed up into his home, leaving Sam and Dream alone in the pathway.

“Are you boys okay?” Niki checked over a few small scrapes that the boys had, checking for too much bleeding or perhaps an already forming bruise.  
Nothing besides a few scrape marks on Tommy’s arms and a few scratches on Ranboo’s stomach.

Tubbo was fine, having barely been harmed in the fight against that huge monster.

Tommy and Ranboo were shivering, Tommy babbling on about some nonsense that the other three weren't listening to.  
Maybe Tommy had been hit on the head while in the monster's stomach.

Fundy looked over to the hole in the pathway, seeing small Ender particles still buzzing around the hole from where Ranboo no doubt nearly fell into the water.

It sent a shiver up his spine.

Just a few feet away, Puffy was hugging the champion known as Foolish, the fighter hugging back as his mother hugged him like she hadn’t seen him in years.  
Well...she hadn’t...but here he was now.

It was like a curse on the two was finally lifted, and they could see each other again.

Foolish let go and smiled at Puffy, who smiled with tear filled eyes back at her son's eyes.

The sky overhead felt peaceful again, and the lighting of the candles and lanterns finally sank back into the warzone of splitting wood and scattered baskets.  
People finally started coming back to see the damage that had been caused by the fight.

People roamed around, a few stopping at the fighters to see if they were injured at all.  
Most avoided the family that continued to stand together at the centre of the destruction.

|

Tommy and Tubbo sat together at the docks, Fundy, Ranboo, and Niki standing next to them, discussing where Sam had gone while Puffy went out searching for him, leaving with Foolish hours ago to look for the creeper hybrid.

The fish swam under their feet as they watched the sun rising in the distance, fishing hoping up to grab at the sunlight that would soon bathe the world in glorious colour and a sense of calm and warmth.

Boats came and went from the dock, fishermen and traders passing with crates and supplies, while simple travellers just walked past with sometimes nothing.  
It all felt surreal.

Tommy sighed and looked up at the sun, “First Tubbo, then Ranboo and I, Now Sam, What The Fuck.” Tubbo nodded, looking down at a koi fish that swam underneath him.

Niki looked down at the two boys as they sat at the edge of the dock and sighed, sitting down next to them.  
“So you guys want to hear a story about these waters?” Tommy snapped his head towards Niki, “we’re not fucking children.”

“Its just to lighten the mood.”   
“Id like to hear it.” Tubbo scooted closer to Niki.

Niki smiled, seeing Fundy sit down just in the corner of her eyes.  
Ranboo stayed da from the water.

“There's a secret city hidden beneath the water, made to escape a curse that had grasped at the land years and years ago...

People died in the city, soon leading it to one person, alone and slowly going insane with his loneliness...

Four fishermen soon found it and explored the city with the person, exploring each room made for an idol...  
The person believed that these four should be dead like everyone else in the city...

The first fisherman was attacked in a room with a tree that reached the top of that world...  
He fought back and managed to win against the person, and he ran with his three friends, leaving the person who could not be redeemed alone to the walls...

The four fishermen returned years later, offering a hand to the person, and he went, and they took him back and brought him back to their society...  
The person lived again, becoming a well-known scholar and making a family for himself, and passed away a happy man, surrounded by friends and family, knowing that he could finally see his old family again....”

“That sounds like a story for pussies!” Tommy shouted as soon as Niki stayed silent enough, drawing a few heads to look in their direction as he covered his mouth.  
“Oops.”

“Maybe it is, but you loved it when you were young.” Niki chuckled as Tommy growled and made a move to begin shouting.

“It's also a story native to the Antarctic Empire.” the five heads turned to see King Schlatt standing behind them, guards standing near the docks.  
“Okay...first King Eret, then King Schlatt, what the fuck.” Tubbo whispered, and Tommy nodded.

“Well, considering you were a part of an attack that destroyed a few big of my kingdom, it's common sense that I would come to visit you.” King Schlatt didn't seem impressed by the feat that has been pulled.

“Oops.” Tommy shrugged, earning a firm slap on the back from Tubbo.

Schlatt sighed and rubbed his temple, “first off, why did you join the fight? You don't look like the fighting type.” Before Tommy could begin cursing out the king, Ranboo spoke up.

“Well, we didn't want to, the monster attacked us, and seemed to only want to attack and eat us, for example, Tommy.” Ranboo moved his hands towards the younger teenager.  
Schlatt crossed his arms and shook his head, “Well, ‘Tommy’...what did the monster look like on the inside?”

Tommy began to rack his brain for the memory of being inside the monster, “it was an old barrel, and for some reason, that white-cloaked motherfucker was like its brain.” Tommy made a swirling motion around his head.

Schlatt nodded, uncrossing his arms and looking down at the group.  
“I'll need to meet with a spellcaster to figure this out.”

Schlatt walked away, the guards following him.

The group remained silent as the work continued around them, drowning out their thoughts on the matter at hand.

“What. The. Fuck.”

|

Sam opened his eyes to darkness and the scent of damp and moss, the smells clogging his senses as he tried to make sense of the situation at hand.

The ground beneath him was rough and uncomfortable, feeling as though a million small knives were stabbing into his back with all its force.

He knew why he was here.

“Dream....” Sam sat up to see the outline of the mans silhouette standing at the edge of the prison door.

“How the tables turn....” Dream chuckled as Sam snarled at him, hissing slightly as a threat.

Dream kicked a rock at sam, smiling as sam flinched back.

“Why were you trying to take them......why?” Sam watched as Dream shook with laughter.

Dreams laughs were haunting and seemed manic, then it all stopped, the laughter still echoing, “Sam, don’t you see, I'm trying to keep them away so I can reform them, make it so the story never ends so that we never end.” Dream laughed again, filling Sam with a form of fear.

“Dream this is why you were in prison in the first place, you act as though you control some form of story....” Dream tilted his head, staring at Sam with those beady little eyes.

Dream grabbed the bars of the prison door, “Sam...I care about you, along with George, Sapnap, everyone, but those five need to be reformed so we all don't die, just like the madness that always spreads thanks go that dirty Time traveller.” Sam felt as though Dream had gone insane.

“Dream, there is no time travelling spell or potion...” Dream stared back at Sam.

“It’s not a spell, or a potion... it's a book.” Sam moved back in his cell glaring back at Dream as he rattled the prison bars.

“I've heard his stories, to the tale of a village gone mad, stories of a grande masquerade murder, a peaceful beach day, and an underwater city...”  
“But the most interesting was the tale of the Dream SMP... Our ancestors...” Dream placed a hand over his heart.  
“Yours....was like you....” Sam felt a pit grow in his stomach.

“You helped me in achieving a goal....and you'll continue to do so.”

Dream left, leaving Sam to the dark of the prison he was kept in.


	12. Sorry

Hey,

I’ve recently lost any and all motivation to continue this fanfic.

Sorry,  
Sincerely Author


End file.
